Vasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier by Alexander Tvardovsky Abigail Parry and courageously exploratory’

and courageously exploratory’

as true poetry should

These ‘books’ gather poems in different metres and concentrate on specific themes

ENGLISH PEN TRANSLATION AWARD WINNER

Arbella Stuart

Vasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier by Alexander Tvardovsky Abigail Parry and courageously exploratory’Vasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier is one of the great epic poems of the Second World War. Published in army newspapers and broadcast on the radio between 1942 and 1945, it was hugely popular with Soviet soldiers, many of whom believed it was about a real person was real. Private Tyorkin is an accordion playing Everyman figure, who moves between comedy and reluctant heroism. He is a cheerful grumbler always on the lookout for food and a quick kip,