“There is no hell. This is my deepest conviction."

Alexander Semenovich Kushner- Author of more than 50 collections of poems, winner of many prestigious awards (including the state), the first winner of the "Poet" award. In his eighties, he continues to actively write and publish. Over the past five years - five new books.

On the eve of the anniversary, the correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta asked the poet about the secrets of creative longevity, about friendship with famous contemporaries and about where he finds themes for poetry.

Interview: Olga Strauss/RG, St. Petersburg
Photo: kushner.poet-premium.ru

Alexander Semenovich, everyone quotes your most famous aphorism “ Times are not chosen...", and I want to confess to something else. Did you know that for many of my peers, the password was your lines: " You will come home, rustling your raincoat, blowing the rain off your cheeks. Is life still mysterious? - Still mysterious!". And I also find your lines about the end of life very optimistic:

Anyway, this life is good in the end
And in debt, and in tears, because it is fresh!
And obedient rhyme
Running out to the call, and light as the soul,
And exact, exact figure!

Do you still think so? Are you able to age happily?

Alexander Kushner: To be honest, I doubt it.

Old age is a difficult test sent to a person at the end of life.

Another thing is that it is impossible to complain, it is a shame. I am close to such an understanding of life as that of village old women: if you alone were dying, and no one except you, it would be a shame. Unbearable. And so ... Goethe died! Was he worse than you?!

In one of your recent poems, you admitted that your favorite place in St. Petersburg is the Mikhailovsky Castle: “I didn’t want to tell anyone, but now I said it.” Do you keep them secret, favorite places?

Alexander Kushner: I just like almost everything in the city. Even in some factory district, beyond Obvodny, you suddenly feel some special, modest beauty. Poplar will make such noise and sparkle next to the brick facade that the place will become beautiful.

I recently wrote a poem about Palace Square. It already seemed what a written, hackneyed address! But I suddenly felt that Palace Square looked like a huge field, bordered by a wall of spruce forest. It is also easy to breathe here. This city is generally designed for a person, as if it was created for walking.

By your definition

"Paradise is the place where Tolstoy is read."

What is your idea of ​​hell?

Alexander Kushner: There is no hell. This is my deep conviction. I don't think God would be so cruel as to allow his existence. After all, it is impossible to imagine eternal toothache - you can’t endure it even for a minute!

Judging by your biography, you are a very good person (readers love you, your fellow poets are friends with you, the young authors for whom you led a literary association remain with you forever). You are deprived of bad habits (no drunkenness, no spree). Does such “goodness” help or hinder being a poet?

Alexander Kushner:

First, I'm not such a good person anymore. (In general it is necessary to ask the wife).

But it seems to me that a person endowed with some kind of gift is almost always a good person. Because he has a favorite thing, he has no time and no need to envy ... And then, what do we mean by good? Here is Pushkin - in my opinion, a wonderful person! But he wrote: “and with disgust reading my life…”. Probably, everyone can repeat this after him. We all offended someone in our lives, then we suffered remorse... Man is not an angel. But I can't stand rudeness, rudeness, swearing. And how I agree with, who, having gone through the camps, endured for life a disgust for the criminal style and obscenities ... I don’t like deceit. I also try (for myself) to be restrained, to avoid too bright manifestations of emotions: it’s a pity to waste energy on external, as the Symbolists said, “ecstasies” (their favorite ridiculous word, some kind of “former basin” is heard in it). But if we are talking about love, then I never felt sorry for myself ... And I also don’t like too ironic people, or rather, I’m afraid of them. Irony suggests some arrogance. Just recently I read a book by Vsevolod Petrov about. What a delightful appearance! The man knew all European languages ​​- and at the same time he was incredibly easy to communicate and kind. , who said to himself that he was always 13 years old, added somehow: and Kuzmin is always three.

Interesting, how old are you?

Alexander Kushner: I find it difficult to say, although I have thought about it a lot. I remember myself as a boy of 8-9 years old. And I understand that I have never been as smart as then. In a sense - impressionable and responsive. Everything worried me, I wanted to understand everything ... The degree of tension of mental life was incredibly high. When I look at my poetry, I see that some of the early ones are pretty much older than the later ones. Maybe in one poem you are 30 years old, and in another 40 or 10? No, I do not know

Your poems are consoling, in them even this word - consolation - is often repeated. Does this mean that you yourself often have to console yourself? How?

Alexander Kushner: You are correct in naming this word. "That's what poetry is - consolation ...". This is a line that I have had for a long time. But that's just the way it is. It is strange to say, but in some sense the poet is close to the priest. Also a musician and an artist. And even the one who wrote "both boring and sad" ... consoles. Because it is quite clear that when he wrote this, he was passionate about his poem, and therefore was happy.

Poetry is a battery of energy. The bookshelf is a charged battery, always ready to connect us to this row.

This is the miracle of art. It is worth approaching the canvases of Van Gogh or Rembrandt, and you will experience a surge of strength. What, are very joyful artists? Nothing! But looking at their pictures, I want to live.

I just do not like the deliberately frightening in art. Here

I don't like Bosch - I can't help myself. I do not like zaum (Kruchenykh, Burliuk and all this company).

Because the world in these verses is disgusting. The man deliberately writes like a madman. I would go into the clinical ward - I was once visiting a sick friend there, and I realized how scary it was. I don't like such obviously "crazy" people in art.

The formula “poetry is not written - it happens” is well known. And how does it happen for you?

Alexander Kushner: The most difficult thing is to start a poem, to find a reason. This is often asked by young poets: how to understand what to write about? I would answer it this way: there would be a desire. When it is - the right reason turns up by itself. I remembered something, I saw it, a poetic thought came - not a thought in general, but a poetic, metaphorical one. And suddenly a poem is born. And variations are important. Those are only twenty. You have to say something of your own, something new. Finding this “something new” is a fascinating task!

You said: there would be a desire. And how to arouse it in yourself? Don't let it fade away?

Alexander Kushner: Don't know. Probably, this is from nature ... It seems that they asked: what is inspiration? He replied: “What inspiration? You twist like a bottle of champagne - and the cork itself flies out!. Well, of course, poets are different - for example, it was difficult to write. And few. But Pushkin did not complain. And also. And sometimes poets flirt. My favorite said about the muse: "For me you are torment and hell". I do not believe!

Do you write on a computer?

Alexander Kushner: Never!

Only with a pen, at the table, opening a notebook and placing more sheets of paper next to it.

I don't know how literary critics deal with poetry. After all, a poet can start on one sheet, then continue on another, on a third. But he does not number them, he does not mark the hours there. How do you find out what came first? Unfathomable.

In general, the elbow joint, the hand is somehow connected with the head.

Sometimes you just feel like someone is pushing you by the arm ...

When I start a poem, I never know how it will end. The poem itself goes on the right path. Much depends on the first line. It is often the first, sets the rhythm, intonation ...

How many hours a day do you work?

Alexander Kushner: You know, Mayakovsky was once told: Pasternak sat down to write a poem, he answered: well, that's good - now at least he will sit for two or three hours, or even ten minutes - and the job is ready. Of course, this is an exaggeration. Well, I have to sit at the table for an hour and a half or two.

There are many children in your poems. And in your personal life? How, for example, did your relationship develop with your son Eugene?

Alexander Kushner: I love him very much. This is a son from his first marriage. He lives in Jerusalem, works at Russian Radio, is very devoted to the Russian language. There are grandchildren Borya and Katya, they already have their own children (Katya has two, and Borya has four). But great-grandchildren are very small. Borya recently said that he writes music based on my poems. And he sings. Nicely.

Have you ever considered leaving?

Alexander Kushner: Never. I am intimately connected with this language, culture, city. How can I leave? I can't imagine separation from dear people!

- a special case. And then, I must say, as I saw him, felt, he was not very sure that he had correctly disposed of his fate. And when one day I told him about this: here, Joseph, apparently, everything is right - you left, became a Nobel laureate, everything is fine, he replied: "not sure".

You were friends with Rein, Brodsky, met with Akhmatova ... And yet you were not included in the number of "Akhmatova's orphans". Why?

Alexander Kushner: I came to four or five times. Always alone. That is, first with, then one. One is better. In the company - this is entertainment, and one on one you can talk about poetry. Then this company brought together very different people. Most of all I appreciate Joseph.

In addition, I also had my own company - these are prose writers Andrei Bitov, Valery Popov, Lidia Ginzburg - a great scientist and writer, Dmitry Evgenievich Maksimov, Boris Bukhshtab - a wonderful literary critic who wrote wonderfully about Fet and. Poets Gleb Semyonov, Gleb Gorbovsky, Alexander Gorodnitsky, Nonna Slepakova.

They did not perform at stadiums, they did not gather thousands of pop halls, like Muscovites. But their gifts are no less.

In general, it is unfortunate that readers of St. Petersburg-Leningraders know less.

It is clear why: all publishing houses, thick magazines are concentrated in Moscow, the audience there is wider ... But perhaps this is also due to the St. Petersburg character. As Akhmatova said:

But we won’t exchange magnificent
Granite city of glory and misfortune,
Wide rivers sparkling ice,
Sunless, gloomy gardens
And the voice of the muse, barely audible.

And I also wanted to ask you this: what is the main lesson of life you have learned by your anniversary?

Alexander Kushner:

Life is true! - teaches from the beginning to death.

And you learn something new, and you make new mistakes... But I don't really like senile wisdom. Art should not educate: after all, maple and cloud do not educate anyone. They are just happy. You need to ensure that your poems bring joy to a person.

Alexander Kushner was born on September 14, 1936 in Leningrad. Lives in St. Petersburg. Graduated in 1959 from the philological faculty of the State Pedagogical Institute. Herzen.

Alexander Kushner, poet, author of poetry books "First Impression" 1962, "Night Watch" 1966, "Signs" 1969, "Letter" 1974, "Direct Speech" 1975, "Voice" 1978, "Tauride Garden" 1984, "Day Dreams" "1985, "Hedge" 1988, "Night Music" 1991, "On a gloomy star" 1994, "Yarrow" 1998.

In addition, his articles on Russian poetry and essays were included in his books "Apollo in the Snow" 1991 and "Yarrow" 1998.

Three books of selected poems by A. Kushner "Canva" 1981, "Poems" (with a preface by D.S. Likhachev) 1986, "Selected" (with a preface by I. Brodsky) 1997 were also published.

A. Kushner's poems were translated into English (book by A. Kushner "Apollo in the snow" 1991, Farras, Straus and Giroux, New-York; second edition -1992, Harvill, London), into Italian (book by Alexander Kushner "La poesia di San Pietroburgo", Milano, 1998), into Dutch (book "Vier petersburgers" by I. Annenski, O. Mandelstam, A. Koesjner, J. Brodski, 1996Amsterdam), as well as into German, Czech, French, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Japanese and other languages.

Alexander Kushner was born on September 14, 1936 in Leningrad. Lives in St. Petersburg. Graduated in 1959 from the philological faculty of the State Pedagogical Institute. Herzen and taught Russian language and literature at school for ten years. Printed since 1956. Member of the Writers' Union since 1965, member of the PEN Club (1987).

Winner of the literary awards "Northern Palmyra" in 1995, the State Prize of Russia in 1996, the Pushkin Prize of the German Alfred Toepfer Foundation in 1999.

D.S. Likhachev wrote about A. Kushner: "Kushner is a poet of life, in all its manifestations. And this is one of the most attractive features of his poetry."

Lydia Ginzburg: "Contrary to the prevailing tradition of lyrics, Kushner writes about happy love. Kushner's poems tell about the happiness of life and the anxiety that does not subside for it. The interconnectedness of the life-affirming and the tragic is realized in them."

Joseph Brodsky: "Alexander Kushner is one of the best lyric poets of the 20th century, and his name is destined to stand among the names dear to the heart of anyone whose native language is Russian ... Kushner's poetics is, undoubtedly, a combination of the poetics of the "harmonic school" and acmeism. .. Kushner's poems are characterized by restraint of tone, the absence of hysteria, broadcast statements, nervous gestures. He is rather dry where another would boil, ironic where another would despair. Kushner's poetics, in short, the poetics of stoicism"

The 20th century in Russia passed under the sign of great catastrophes. The poet of the second half of the century, Alexander Kushner, believes that the awareness of the tragic experience and some conclusions drawn from it are the main things that make up the meaning of his poetry. Complaints about life, about its nonsense, as well as the romantic opposition of the poet to the crowd, seem to him deeply archaic, unproductive. You are not satisfied with life, you make claims against the universe, you dream of "returning the ticket to the creator" - there is nothing easier: millions of "killed cheaply", as Mandelstam said, would gladly exchange fate, time and place with you. The 20th century in Russia taught a man (and a poet) to value simple things: the warmth of steam heating, bed linen, books on a bookshelf, talking with a friend on the phone, a woman's smile - all this could be taken away from thousands of people at any moment. The question is not whether there is a meaning in life and whether it is worth living, but how to live this life with dignity, to realize, in spite of everything, your abilities. One of the forms of freedom revealed to man (and poetry) in the 20th century is the intellectual (and poetic) comprehension of tragedy, overcoming it, the ability to return the soul, "dying, in the best possible way."

Abstraction is contraindicated in poetry, poetry is objective and concrete - in this sense, the experience of his poetic teachers I. Annensky, O. Mandelstam, as well as their sympathy for an ordinary person, "old Estonians", "ordinary rider" is important to Alexander Kushner. At the same time, the orientation of these poets to European cultural achievements, "longing for world culture" is organically close to A. Kushner.

A. Kushner wrote more than once in his essays, asserted in his verses the presence of poetry in life itself. Someone made sure that the spring clouds sparkled so temptingly and brightly, the lilacs bloomed so magnificently, the sea waves so rhythmically rustled, earthly love meant so much. Poetry is not an invention of the poet: the poet extracts it from the world chaos, from the raw material of life, voices it and fixes it in the word.

As for formal poetic tasks, A. Kushner is committed to Russian rhymed, regular verse, the possibilities of which (first of all, intonation) are far from exhausted, infinitely diverse (new Russian poetry is young, much younger than its European sisters, has only three centuries). And one more important point: considering the poetic epic, epic forms, including the poem with its narrative intonation and premeditated plot, as an outdated genre, supplanted by the prose of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Proust, etc., A. Kushner focused on the book poetry as a new and most productive genre of lyric poetry. The book of poems, bypassing the epic, today gives the poet the opportunity to create the most complete, meaningful, indeed grandiose picture of modern life. Lyricism is the soul of art, all the arts have been moving in the direction of lyricism for several centuries now (not only poetry, but also prose, painting, and music), lyricism stands guard over the interests of a private person, it is his defender in an inhuman world. And this is also one of the main lessons taught to a person (and a poet) in the tragic 20th century.

» Yulia Kim and the jury's refusal to nominate Alexei Purin for the award, together with Evgeny Rein, left the jury.

Creation

In poetry, he follows the principles laid down by acmeists and authors close in poetics (from I. Annensky to Boris Pasternak): a description of the objective world, life and at the same time inclusion in world culture (citation). A special place in the work of Kushner is occupied by the image of his native St. Petersburg-Leningrad: the fate of the poet's lyrical hero is inseparable from this city (“He does not even think of happiness without signs / Topographical, irresistible” - the poem “What is spring to me? Take it for yourself! ..”) . Kushner is alien to formal experiments: blank verse, free verse, word creation; at the same time, his work with traditional poetic meters is distinguished by refinement and reflectiveness, skillful use of diverse verses, and syntagmic transfers. An expressive description of Kushner's language was given by his contemporary and friend Joseph Brodsky: “If you can talk about normative Russian vocabulary, then you can, I believe, talk about normative Russian poetic speech. Speaking of the latter, we will always talk about Alexander Kushner".

The same Brodsky gave a general assessment of creativity: "Alexander Kushner is one of the best lyric poets of the 20th century, and his name is destined to stand among the names dear to the heart of anyone whose native language is Russian" .

Kushner's poems are characterized by modesty, closeness to prosaic speech; the skill of the poet is revealed only in the leisurely reading of these poems - in accordance with how Kushner himself reveals the world around him.

Books of poems were published in translation into English, Dutch, Italian, Serbian, Catalan, and Chinese. The poems were also translated into German, French, Japanese, Hebrew, Czech and Bulgarian.

Literary association

A literary association led by Alexander Semyonovich Kushner has existed in St. Petersburg since the early 1970s. Among the first members of LITO were such poets as Vladimir Khanan, Valery Skoblo, Yuri Kolker, Boris Likhtenfeld, Konstantin Eskin, Tatyana Kostina, Alexander Tankov. During its existence, LITO repeatedly moved from one site to another: from the Bolshevichka sewing association to its current location in the Writer's House on Zvenigorodskaya Street. When it became difficult for A.S. Kushner to conduct classes, his old student took over the baton: at present, the poet Alexander Tankov is in charge of the literary association.

Participants of LITO AS Kushner are united by devotion to Russian poetry and high exactingness to the word. Many former students have long become independent famous poets - for example, Aleksey Purin, Aleksey Mashevsky, Nikolai Kononov came out of LITO Kushner. Since the 1980s, the composition of LITO has not changed much: its members still meet at least once a month to listen to new poems from their friends and learn their opinion about their poems. Among today's participants are Alexander Tankov, Alexander Frolov, Veronika Kapustina, Ivan Duda. All these poets have long ago joined the Union of Writers of St. Petersburg, have their own collections of poems, they are laureates of literary prizes named after Akhmatova, Pasternak, Zabolotsky. The seminar lost two significant poets - Alexander Gurevich and Vasily Rusakov died tragically early.

According to Alexander Tankov:

... the poets included in LITO are very different, each has his own voice, his own intonation. The dry, hard, even harsh philosophical lyrics of David Raskin are in no way similar to the strange, sometimes seemingly absurd, but bewitching and heart-touching poems of Ivan Duda, the brilliant poems of Alexander Frolov strung on a carefully constructed plot - to the associative-phonetic lines of Alexander Tankov, tragic , painful, as if bleeding verses by Sergei Nikolaev - on the aching, transparent, glowing night neon stanzas of Vasily Kovalev. Someone, comparing the poets of this LITO with painters, placed next to Ivan Duda Filonov, next to David Raskin - German expressionists, next to Veronika Kapustina - Modigliani, next to Alla Mikhalevich - color engravings by Hokusai.

Awards

Bibliography

Collections of poems

Books in italics contain, in addition to poems, literary-critical prose and essays..

• First impression. - M.-L.: Soviet writer, 1962. - 96 p.
• The night Watch. - M.-L.: Soviet writer, 1966. - 124 p.
• Signs. - L.: Soviet writer, 1969. - 112 p.
• Letter. - L.: Soviet writer, 1974. - 96 p.
• Direct speech. - L.: Lenizdat, 1975. - 112 p.
• Voice. - L.: Soviet writer, 1978. - 127 p.
• Kanva: From six books. - L.: Soviet writer, 1981. - 207 p.
• Tauride Gardens. - L.: Owls. writer, 1984. - 103 p.
• Day dreams. - L.: Lenizdat, 1986. - 86 p.
• Poems. - L .: Fiction, 1986. - 302 p.
• Hedge. - L.: Soviet writer, 1988. - 142 p.
• Memory / Comp. and trans. from Russian I. Auzins - Riga: Liesma, 1989. - 106 p.
• Flutist. - M .: Pravda, 1990. - (B-ka "Spark"; No. 8). - 29 p.
• Apollo in the Snow: Marginal Notes. - L.: Soviet writer, 1991. - 512 p. - ISBN 5-265-01145-5
• Night music. - L.: Lenizdat, 1991. - 110 p. - ISBN 5-289-01086-6
• Apollo in the snow. - New York: Farras, Straus and Giroux, 1991.
• On a dark star. - St. Petersburg: Acropolis, 1994. - 103 p. - ISBN 5-86585-022-9
• Favorites. - St. Petersburg: Fiction, 1997. - 494 p. - ISBN 5-280-03199-2

* Yarrow: [Book of poems; Marginal notes]. - St. Petersburg: Russian-Baltic Information Center BLITs, 1998. - 367 p. - ISBN 5-86789-073-2

• La poesia di San Pietroburgo. - Milano: 1998.
• Flying ridge. - St. Petersburg: Russian-Baltic Information Center "BLITs", 2000. - 95 p. - ISBN 978-5-86789-115-2
• Poems: Four decades. - M.: Progress-Pleyada, 2000. - 288 p. - ISBN 5-93006-010-X
• Fifth element: [Favourite]. - M.: Eksmo-Press, 2000. - 384 p. - ISBN 5-04-005458-0
• Bush. - St. Petersburg: Pushkin Fund, 2002. - 88 p. - ISBN 5-89803-100-6

* Wave and stone. Poems and prose. - St. Petersburg: Logos, 2003. - 768 p. - ISBN 5-87288-242-4

• Cold May. - St. Petersburg: Helikon + Amphora, 2005. - 96 p. - ISBN 5-93682-189-7
• Favorites. - M.: Time, 2005. - 270 p. - ISBN 5-94117-093-9

* Apollo in the Grass: An Essay; Poems. - M.: Progress-Pleyada, 2005. - 632 p. - ISBN 5-93006-036-3

• In the new century. - M.: Progress-Pleyada, 2006. - 336 p. - ISBN 5-93006-057-6
• Times do not choose: Five decades. - St. Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika, 2007. - 224 p. - ISBN 978-5-91181-580-6
• Selected poems: [Booklet with text as part of a multimedia book]. - St. Petersburg: Helikon Plus, 2007. - (Series "Live Poems").
• Tauride Garden: Selected. - M.: Time, 2008. - 528 p. - ISBN 978-5-9691-0200-2
• Clouds choose anapaest. - Avanta+ encyclopedia world; Astrel, 2008. - 95 p. - ISBN 978-5-98986-156-9
• Chalk and coal. - M.: The world of Avanta+ encyclopedias; Astrel; Polygraphizdat, 2010. - 128 p. - ISBN 978-5-98986-393-8; - ISBN 978-5-271-283-75-8; - ISBN 978-5-42-15-1045-1

* On this side of the mysterious line: Poems, articles on poetry. - St. Petersburg: ABC; Azbuka-Atticus, 2011. - 544 p. - ISBN 978-5-389-01520-3

• Evening light. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house. group "Lenizdat", 2013. - 112 p. - ISBN 978-5-4453-0055-7
• Times do not choose ...: [Sel.] - M .: Eksmo, 2014. - 416 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-72989-0
• Antique motifs: [Poems; Essay]. - St. Petersburg: Union of Writers of St. Petersburg; Helikon Plus, 2014. - 160 p. - ISBN 978-5-93682-963-5
• Gravity. - M.: Time, 2015. - 96 p. - ISBN 978-5-9691-1390-9
• Selected Poems. - St. Petersburg: Zvezda magazine, 2016. - 472 p. - ISBN 978-5-7439-0204-0
• Between the Fontanka and the Moika...: A Book of Poems. - St. Petersburg: Arka, 2016. - 288 p. - ISBN 978-5-91208-221-4

Books for children

• A cherished desire. - L .: Children's literature, 1973.
• Big news. - L .: Children's literature, 1975. - 15 p.-
• City as a gift. - L .: Children's literature, 1976. - 128 p.
• A bike. - L .: Children's literature, 1979. - 12 p.
• Fun walk. - L .: Children's literature, 1984. - 36 p.
• What I Learned!: A Coloring Book. - Kyiv: Veselka, 1988. - 12 p.
• How do you live? - L .: Children's literature, 1988. - 47 p.
• To scare everyone: [Toy book]. - M .: Magazine "On a combat post"; COOP "ISO", 1992.
• What's in your pocket? - M.: Olma-Press Bookplate, 2003. - 8 p. - ISBN 5-94847-001-6
• What have I learned! - M.: Olma-Press Bookplate, 2003. - 8 p. - ISBN 5-94847-001-6
• Fun walk. - St. Petersburg: ABC; ABC-Atticus, 2011. - (Ser. "44 cheerful verses"). - 48 s. - ISBN 978-5-389-01777-1
• It's good to have an elephant!.. / Postscript. M. Yasnova. - St. Petersburg: Detgiz, 2015. - 92 p. ISBN 978-5-8452-0504-9
• A cherished desire. - St. Petersburg; M .: Speech, 2016. - (Ser. "Mom's favorite book.) - 20 pp. - [Reprinted book of the same name in 1973; see above.] - ISBN 978-5-9268-2003-1

Modern literature about the work of A. S. Kushner

• Aryev A. Little secrets, or the Phenomenon of Alexander Kushner // Ariev A. The royal branch. - SPb., 2000. - S. 85-185.
• Ariev A. The habit of living: On the 80th anniversary of Alexander Kushner // Banner. - 2016. - No. 9. - S. 169-182.
• Belyaeva N. Alexander Kushner: eight facets of talent // Neva. - 2016. - No. 9. - S. 182-193.
• Gelfond M. M. "I will find a reader in the offspring ...": Boratynsky and poets of the twentieth century. - M., 2012. - S. 163-178 (and others).
• Glovko O. Name in a lyrical context: (Based on Alexander Kushner's poem "The War Was Over") // Name of the text, name in the text: Sat. scientific works. - Tver, 2004. - S. 61-70.
• Kazarin Yu. Part of eternity: about the poetry of Alexander Kushner // Ural. - 2012. - No. 4. - S. 219-236.
• Kalinnikov L. A. Questions of the poet A. S. Kushner to the philosopher I. Kant about the problems of otherworldly // Kant's collection: Nauch. magazine - Kaliningrad, 2010. - No. 3 (33). - S. 33-51.
• Koroleva N.V. Meetings on the way: [Memories]. - St. Petersburg, 2010 (according to the names).
• Kudryavtseva I. A. The poet and the process of creativity in the artistic consciousness of A. Kushner: Abstract of the thesis. diss. … cand. philologist. Sciences. - Cherepovets, 2004.
• Kulagin A. Two Kushner // Star. - 2016. - No. 9. - S. 7-13.
• Kulagin A. V. A. Kushner's cycle "Stans": genre, composition, context // Through Literature: Sat. articles for the 80th anniversary of Leonid Genrikhovich Frizman. - Kyiv, 2015. - S. 364-377.
• Kulagin A. V. “I spent my whole life in this city ...”: Poetic Petersburg of Alexander Kushner. - Kolomna, 2014. - 142 p.
• Lyapina L. E. “The Tauride Garden” by A. S. Kushner: contextual reading // Lyapina L. E. The World of Petersburg in Russian Poetry: Essays on Historical Poetics. - St. Petersburg, 2010. - S. 126-137.
• Nevzglyadova E. The fifth element: (About the book of poems by A. Kushner "Tauride Garden") // Nevzglyadova E. About the verse. - St. Petersburg, 2005. - S. 193-212.
• Novikov Vl. Brodsky - Kushner - Sosnora: Academic essay // Novikov Vl. Romance with Literature. - M., 2007. - S. 114-119.
• Novikova E. The history of one epigram: (Pushkin - Kushner - Bykov) // Collected works: To the sixtieth birthday of L. I. Sobolev. - M., 2006. - S. 411-416.
• Poddubko Yu. V. Antique motifs and images in the poetry of A. Kushner // Literature in the context of culture: Zb. Sciences. prats. - Issue. 22(2). - Kyiv, 2012. - S. 252-259.
• Poddubko Yu. V. Motive-figurative system of A. Kushner's lyrics: Diss. ... cand. philologist. Sciences. - Kharkov, 2015. - 219 p.
• Smirnov A. Direct speech: Notes on the poetry of Alexander Kushner // Snob. - 2015. - No. 5. - S. 166-171.
• Sukhanova S. Yu., Tsypileva P. A. Functions of the ancient pretext in the lyrics of A. Kushner // Bulletin of Tomsk. state University: Philology. - 2014. - No. 2 (28). - S. 126-141.
• Yasnov M. Big news: Alexander Kushner // Yasnov M. Journey into miracles: A book about children, children's poetry and children's poets. - St. Petersburg, 2014. - S. 173-176.
• Yachnik L. N. Intertextuality and the Russian Poetic Tradition in the Works of Alexander Kushner: Diss. ... cand. philologist. Sciences. - Kyiv, 2014. - 224 p.

Reference materials

• Alexander Semyonovich Kushner / Comp. N. I. Kuznetsova // Russian Soviet writers. Poets: Biobibliogr. pointer. - [T.] 12. - M .: Book. chamber, 1989. - S. 4-34.
• Rodnyanskaya I. B. Kushner Alexander Semyonovich // Russian writers of the 20th century: Biographical. vocabulary. - M., 2000. - S. 399-402.
• Drunk M. F. Kushner Alexander Semyonovich // Russian writers of the twentieth century: Prose writers, poets, playwrights: Biobibliographic. Dictionary: In 3 volumes - M., 2005. - T. 2. - S. 389-392.
• "Irresistible order of verses...": An index of Alexander Kushner's poems included in his author's collections. 1962-2016. Ed. 2nd, rev. and additional / Comp. A. V. Kulagin. - Kolomna: Inlight, 2016. - 80 p. - ISBN 978-5-905529-42-9

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Links

Poetry of Alexander Kushner

• in the magazine room
• on the website "New Literary Map of Russia"
• on the site "Unofficial Poetry"

Critics about Alexander Kushner

• W. Betaki. "Russian poetry for 30 years (1956-1986)" "Antiques" New Haven Conn. USA 1987

Interview with Alexander Kushner

Notes

An excerpt characterizing Kushner, Alexander Semyonovich

He finished and, rising, embraced Pierre and kissed him. Pierre, with tears of joy in his eyes, looked around him, not knowing how to respond to the congratulations and renewal of acquaintances with which he was surrounded. He did not recognize any acquaintances; in all these people he saw only brothers with whom he burned with impatience to set to work.
The great master banged his hammer, everyone sat down, and one read a lesson on the need for humility.
The great master offered to perform the last duty, and an important dignitary, who bore the title of alms-gatherer, began to bypass the brothers. Pierre wanted to write down all the money that he had on the alms sheet, but he was afraid to show pride in this, and wrote down as much as others wrote down.
The meeting was over, and upon returning home, it seemed to Pierre that he had come from some kind of distant journey, where he had spent decades, completely changed and lagged behind the former order and habits of life.

The next day after being admitted to the lodge, Pierre sat at home, reading a book and trying to understand the meaning of the square, depicting God on one side, the moral on the other, the physical on the third, and the mixed on the fourth. From time to time he would tear himself away from the book and the square and in his imagination draw up a new plan of life for himself. Yesterday in the box he was told that a rumor about a duel had reached the attention of the sovereign, and that it would be wiser for Pierre to leave Petersburg. Pierre planned to go to his southern estates and take care of his peasants there. He was happily contemplating this new life when Prince Vasily suddenly entered the room.
– My friend, what have you done in Moscow? Why did you quarrel with Lelya, mon cher? [my dear?] You are in error, - said Prince Vasily, entering the room. - I found out everything, I can tell you correctly that Helen is innocent before you, like Christ before the Jews. Pierre wanted to answer, but he interrupted him. “And why didn’t you address me directly and simply as a friend?” I know everything, I understand everything,” he said, “you behaved like a man who values ​​his honor; may be too hasty, but we will not judge that. One thing you remember in what position you put her and me in the eyes of the whole society and even the court, ”he added, lowering his voice. – She lives in Moscow, you are here. Remember, my dear,” he pulled him down by the arm, “there is one misunderstanding here; you yourself, I think you feel. Write a letter with me now, and she will come here, everything will be explained, otherwise I will tell you, you can suffer very easily, my dear.
Prince Vasily looked impressively at Pierre. “I know from good sources that the Empress Dowager takes a keen interest in this whole matter. You know, she's very kind to Helen.
Several times Pierre was about to speak, but on the one hand, Prince Vasily did not allow him to do so, on the other hand, Pierre himself was afraid to start speaking in that tone of decisive refusal and disagreement, in which he firmly decided to answer his father-in-law. In addition, the words of the Masonic statute: "be kind and friendly" came to mind to him. He frowned, blushed, got up and lowered himself, working on himself in the most difficult thing for him in his life - to say something unpleasant in the face of a person, to say not what this person expected, whoever he was. He was so accustomed to obey this tone of careless self-confidence of Prince Vasily that even now he felt that he would not be able to resist her; but he felt that his entire future fate would depend on what he said now: whether he would follow the old, old road, or along that new one that the Masons had so attractively pointed out to him, and on which he firmly believed that will find rebirth to a new life.
“Well, my dear,” Prince Vasily said jokingly, “tell me yes, and I will write to her on my own, and we will kill the fat calf. - But Prince Vasily did not have time to finish his joke, when Pierre, with fury in his face, which resembled his father, without looking into the eyes of his interlocutor, said in a whisper:
- Prince, I did not call you to my place, go, please, go! He jumped up and opened the door for him.
“Go on,” he repeated, not believing himself and rejoicing at the expression of embarrassment and fear that appeared on the face of Prince Vasily.
- What happened to you? You are sick?
– Go! the trembling voice said again. And Prince Vasily had to leave without receiving any explanation.
A week later, Pierre, having said goodbye to his new friends the Masons and left them large sums in alms, left for his estates. His new brothers gave him letters to Kyiv and Odessa, to the Freemasons there, and promised to write to him and guide him in his new work.

The case between Pierre and Dolokhov was hushed up, and, despite the then severity of the sovereign regarding duels, neither both opponents nor their seconds were injured. But the story of the duel, confirmed by Pierre's break with his wife, was made public. Pierre, who was looked upon condescendingly, patronizingly, when he was an illegitimate son, who was caressed and glorified, when he was the best bridegroom of the Russian Empire, after his marriage, when brides and mothers had nothing to expect from him, he greatly lost in the opinion of society, all the more that he did not know how and did not want to curry favor with the public. Now he alone was accused of what had happened, they said that he was a stupid jealous man, subject to the same fits of bloodthirsty rage as his father. And when, after Pierre's departure, Helene returned to St. Petersburg, she was not only cordially, but with a touch of reverence, referring to her misfortune, was received by all her acquaintances. When the conversation turned to her husband, Helen adopted a dignified expression, which she, although not understanding its meaning, by her usual tact, adopted for herself. This expression said that she had decided to endure her misfortune without complaint, and that her husband was the cross sent to her by God. Prince Vasily expressed his opinion more frankly. He shrugged his shoulders when the conversation turned to Pierre, and, pointing to his forehead, said:
- Un cerveau fele - je le disais toujours. [Half crazy - I always said that.]
“I said ahead of time,” Anna Pavlovna said about Pierre, “I just said then, and before everyone else (she insisted on her primacy), that this is a crazy young man, spoiled by the depraved ideas of the century. I said this back then when everyone admired him and he had just arrived from abroad, and remember, one evening I had some kind of Marat. What ended? I did not yet want this wedding and predicted everything that would happen.
Anna Pavlovna, as before, gave her free days such evenings as before, and such as she alone had the gift to arrange, evenings at which she gathered, firstly, la creme de la veritable bonne societe, la fine fleur de l " essence intellectuelle de la societe de Petersbourg, [the cream of real good society, the color of the intellectual essence of St. some new, interesting face to society, and that nowhere, as at these evenings, was the degree of the political thermometer on which the mood of the Legitimist Petersburg court society stood so clearly and firmly.
At the end of 1806, when all the sad details about the destruction of the Prussian army near Jena and Auerstet by Napoleon and about the surrender of most of the Prussian fortresses had already been received, when our troops had already entered Prussia, and our second war with Napoleon began, Anna Pavlovna gathered evening. La creme de la veritable bonne societe [Cream of a real good society] consisted of a charming and unhappy, abandoned by her husband, Helen, from Morte Mariet "a, a charming Prince Hippolyte, who had just arrived from Vienna, two diplomats, an aunt, one young man who used living room with the name simply d "un homme de beaucoup de merite, [a very worthy person,] one newly granted lady-in-waiting with her mother and some other less prominent persons.
The person with whom, as a novelty, Anna Pavlovna treated her guests that evening, was Boris Drubetskoy, who had just arrived by courier from the Prussian army and was adjutant to a very important person.
The degree of the political thermometer pointed out to society at this evening was as follows: no matter how much all European sovereigns and generals try to pander to Bonaparte in order to make me and us in general these troubles and sorrows, our opinion about Bonaparte cannot change. We will not stop expressing our unfeigned way of thinking on this matter, and we can only say to the King of Prussia and others: so much the worse for you. Tu l "as voulu, George Dandin, [You wanted it, Georges Dandin,] that's all we can say. That's what the political thermometer indicated at Anna Pavlovna's evening. When Boris, who was to be brought to the guests, entered the living room, almost the entire society was already assembled, and the conversation, led by Anna Pavlovna, was about our diplomatic relations with Austria and about the hope of an alliance with her.
Boris, dressed in a smart, adjutant's uniform, matured, fresh and ruddy, freely entered the drawing room and was taken, as he should, to greet his aunt and was again attached to the general circle.
Anna Pavlovna gave him her dry hand to kiss, introduced him to certain faces he did not know, and identified each one to him in a whisper.
– Le Prince Hyppolite Kouraguine – charmant jeune homme. M r Kroug charge d "affaires de Kopenhague - un esprit profond, and simply: M r Shittoff un homme de beaucoup de merite [Prince Ippolit Kuragin, a dear young man. G. Krug, Copenhagen chargé d'affaires, deep mind. G. Shitov , a very worthy person] about the one who bore this name.
Boris during this time of his service, thanks to the cares of Anna Mikhailovna, his own tastes and the properties of his restrained character, managed to put himself in the most advantageous position in the service. He was adjutant to a very important person, had a very important mission to Prussia, and had just returned from there by courier. He fully assimilated to himself that unwritten subordination that he liked in Olmutz, according to which the ensign could stand incomparably higher than the general, and according to which, for success in the service, not efforts in the service, not labor, not courage, not constancy, were needed, but it was necessary only the ability to deal with those who reward service - and he himself was often surprised at his rapid success and how others could not understand this. As a result of this discovery, his whole way of life, all relations with former acquaintances, all his plans for the future, have completely changed. He was not rich, but he used the last of his money to be better dressed than others; he would rather deprive himself of many pleasures than allow himself to ride in a bad carriage or appear in an old uniform on the streets of Petersburg. He approached and sought acquaintance only with people who were taller than him, and therefore could be useful to him. He loved Petersburg and despised Moscow. The memory of the Rostovs' house and his childhood love for Natasha was unpleasant for him, and since his departure for the army he had never been to the Rostovs. In Anna Pavlovna's drawing room, in which he considered being present an important promotion, he now immediately understood his role and left Anna Pavlovna to take advantage of the interest that lay in it, carefully observing each person and evaluating the benefits and opportunities for rapprochement with each of them. . He sat down in the place indicated to him near the beautiful Helen, and listened to the general conversation.
- Vienne trouve les bases du traite propose tellement hors d "atteinte, qu" on ne saurait y parvenir meme par une continuite de succes les plus brillants, et elle met en doute les moyens qui pourraient nous les procurer. C "est la phrase authentique du cabinet de Vienne," said the Danish charge d "affaires. [Vienna finds the foundations of the proposed treaty so impossible that they cannot be achieved even by a series of the most brilliant successes: and she doubts the means that can deliver them to us. This is a genuine phrase of the Vienna Cabinet,” said the Danish chargé d’affaires.]
- C "est le doute qui est flatteur!" - said l "homme a l" esprit profond, with a thin smile. [Doubt is flattering! - said a deep mind,]
- Il faut distinguer entre le cabinet de Vienne et l "Empereur d" Autriche, said Morte Mariet. - L "Empereur d" Autriche n "a jamais pu penser a une chose pareille, ce n" est que le cabinet qui le dit. [It is necessary to distinguish between the Vienna Cabinet and the Austrian Emperor. The Austrian Emperor could never think this, only the cabinet says it.]
- Eh, mon cher vicomte, - Anna Pavlovna intervened, - l "Urope (for some reason she pronounced l" Urope, as a special subtlety of the French language that she could afford when speaking with the French) l "Urope ne sera jamais notre alliee sincere [Ah, my dear Viscount, Europe will never be our sincere ally.]
Following this, Anna Pavlovna brought the conversation to the courage and firmness of the Prussian king in order to bring Boris into the business.
Boris listened attentively to the one who spoke, waiting for his turn, but at the same time he managed to look several times at his neighbor, the beautiful Helen, who several times met her eyes with a handsome young adjutant with a smile.
Quite naturally, speaking of the situation in Prussia, Anna Pavlovna asked Boris to tell about his journey to Glogau and the position in which he found the Prussian army. Boris, slowly, in pure and correct French, told a lot of interesting details about the troops, about the court, throughout his story carefully avoiding expressing his opinion about the facts that he conveyed. For some time Boris captured everyone's attention, and Anna Pavlovna felt that her refreshment with a novelty was accepted with pleasure by all the guests. Helen showed the most attention to Boris's story. She asked him several times about some details of his trip and seemed to be very interested in the position of the Prussian army. As soon as he had finished, she turned to him with her usual smile:
“Il faut absolument que vous veniez me voir, [It is necessary that you come to see me,” she said to him in such a tone, as if for some reason that he could not know, it was absolutely necessary.
- Mariedi entre les 8 et 9 heures. Vous me ferez grand plaisir. [On Tuesday, between 8 and 9 o'clock. You will give me great pleasure.] - Boris promised to fulfill her desire and wanted to enter into a conversation with her when Anna Pavlovna recalled him under the pretext of an aunt who wanted to hear him.
"You know her husband, don't you?" said Anna Pavlovna, closing her eyes and pointing sadly at Helen. “Ah, this is such an unfortunate and lovely woman! Don't talk about him in front of her, please don't. She's too hard!

When Boris and Anna Pavlovna returned to the common circle, Prince Ippolit took over the conversation.
He moved forward in his chair and said: Le Roi de Prusse! [King of Prussia!] and saying this, he laughed. Everyone turned to him: Le Roi de Prusse? asked Hippolyte, laughed again, and again calmly and seriously sat down in the back of his armchair. Anna Pavlovna waited for him a little, but since Hippolyte resolutely did not seem to want to talk any more, she began to talk about how the godless Bonaparte had stolen the sword of Frederick the Great in Potsdam.
- C "est l" epee de Frederic le Grand, que je ... [This is the sword of Frederick the Great, which I ...] - she began, but Hippolytus interrupted her with the words:
- Le Roi de Prusse ... - and again, as soon as he was addressed, he apologized and fell silent. Anna Pavlovna grimaced. Morte Mariet, a friend of Hippolyte, turned to him resolutely:
Voyons a qui en avez vous avec votre Roi de Prusse? [Well, what about the Prussian king?]
Hippolyte laughed, as if he were ashamed of his own laughter.
- Non, ce n "est rien, je voulais dire seulement ... [No, nothing, I just wanted to say ...] (He intended to repeat the joke that he heard in Vienna, and which he was going to post all evening.) Je voulais dire seulement, que nous avons tort de faire la guerre pour le roi de Prusse [I just wanted to say that we are fighting in vain pour le roi de Prusse.

Biography

Born in 1936, the future poet's father, Lieutenant Colonel S. S. Kushner (1911-1980), was a naval engineer. He studied at the Faculty of Philology of the Pedagogical Institute. A. Herzen. In 1959-1969 he taught Russian language and literature at school. Since the late 1960s, he switched to professional literary activity. In 1993, he signed the "Letter of the 42".

Member of the USSR Writers Union (1965), Russian PEN Center (1987). Editor-in-Chief of the Poet's Library (since 1992; since 1995 - the New Poet's Library). Member of the editorial boards of the magazines "Zvezda", "Counterpoint" (since 1998), the virtual magazine "Art Petersburg" (since 1996).

He is married to the poetess Elena Nevzglyadova. The only son, Eugene, lives in Israel with his family.

Creation

In poetry, he follows the principles laid down by acmeists and authors close in poetics (from I. Annensky to Boris Pasternak): a description of the objective world, life and at the same time inclusion in world culture (citation). Kushner is alien to formal experiments, innovation: white verse, free verse, word creation. The best thing about Kushner was said by his contemporary Joseph Brodsky: “If you can talk about normative Russian vocabulary, then you can, I believe, talk about normative Russian poetic speech. Speaking of the latter, we will always talk about Alexander Kushner".

The same Brodsky gave a general assessment as follows: "Alexander Kushner is one of the best lyric poets of the 20th century, and his name is destined to stand among the names dear to the heart of anyone whose native language is Russian".

Kushner's poems are characterized by modesty, closeness to prosaic speech; the skill of the poet is revealed only in the leisurely reading of these poems - in accordance with how Kushner himself reveals the world around him.

Books of poems were published in translation into English, Dutch, Italian. The poems were translated into German, French, Japanese, Hebrew, Czech and Bulgarian.

Bibliography

Collections of poems

1. First impression. - M.-L.: Soviet writer, 1962. - 96 p.
2. The night Watch. 1966.
3. Signs. 1969.
4. Letter. 1974.
5. Direct speech. 1975.
6. City as a gift. - L .: Children's literature, 1976. - 128 p.
7. Voice. - L.: Soviet writer, 1978. - 127 p.
8. Canvas. / Of the six books- L.: Soviet writer, 1981. - 207 p.
9. Tauride Gardens. - L.: Owls. writer, 1984. - 103 p.
10. Merry Walk: Poems. [For doshk. age]. - L .: Children's literature, 1984. - 36 p.
11. Day dreams. - L.: Lenizdat, 1986. - 86 p.
12. Poems. - L .: Fiction, 1986. - 302 p.
13. Hedge. - L.: Soviet writer, 1988. - 142 p.
14. What have I learned! - Kyiv: Veselka, 1988. - 12 p.
15. How do you live? - L .: Children's literature, 1988. - 47 p.
16. Memory. / Comp. and trans. from Russian I. Auzins- Riga: Liesma, 1989. - 106 p.
17. Flutist. - M.: Pravda, 1990. - 29 p.
18. Night music. - L.: Lenizdat, 1991. - 110 p.
19. Apollo in the snow. - New York: Farras, Straus and Giroux, 1991.
20. On a dark star. - St. Petersburg: Acropolis, 1994. - 102 p.
21. Favorites. - St. Petersburg: Fiction, 1997. - 494 p.
22. Yarrow. - St. Petersburg: Blitz, 1998. - 367 p.
23. La poesia di San Pietroburgo. - Milano: 1998.
24. Flying ridge. - St. Petersburg: Blitz, 2000. - 95 p. - .
25. Fifth element. - M.: Eksmo-Press, 2000. - 384 p. - .
26. Bush. - St. Petersburg: Pushkin Fund, 2002. - 88 p.
27. Wave and stone. Poems and prose. - St. Petersburg: Logos, 2003. - 768 p. - .
28. What's in your pocket? - M.: Olma-Press Bookplate, 2003. - 8 p. - .
29. What have I learned! - M.: Olma-Press Bookplate, 2003. - 8 p. - .
30. Cold May. - St. Petersburg: Helikon Plus, 2005. - 96 p. - .
31. Favorites. - M.: Time, 2005. - 270 p. - .
32. In the new century. - M.: Progress-Pleyada, 2006. - 336 p. - .
33. Times are not chosen (five decades). - M.: Azbuka-klassika, 2007. - 224 p. - .
34. Tauride Gardens. - M.: Time, 2008. - 528 p. - .
35. Clouds choose anapaest. - M.: Avanta +, Astrel, 2008. - 95 p. - .

prose books

• Apollo in the snow
• Wave and stone
• Apollo in the grass

Awards

• State Prize of the Russian Federation (1995)
• Award "Northern Palmyra" (1995)
• New World magazine award (1997)
• Pushkin Prize of the A. Töpfer Foundation (1998)
• Pushkin Prize of the Russian Federation (2001)
• Tsarskoye Selo Art Prize (2004)
• Poet Award (2005)
• Prize named after Korney Chukovsky "For fruitful activities that stimulate children's interest in reading, in Russian children's literature" (2007).
• MIBF Award "Book of the Year" in the nomination "Poetry" (2011)

Alexander Semenovich Kushner was born on September 14, 1936 in Leningrad. Lives in St. Petersburg. Graduated in 1959 from the philological faculty of the State Pedagogical Institute. Herzen and taught Russian language and literature at school for ten years. Printed since 1956. Member of the Writers' Union since 1965, member of the PEN Club (1987). He is married to Elena Nevzglyadova, a philologist and poet who writes poetry under the pseudonym Elena Ushakova.

Alexander Kushner is the author of the poetry books First Impression 1962, Night Watch 1966, Signs 1969, Letter 1974, Direct Speech 1975, Voice 1978, Tauride Garden 1984, Day Dreams 1985 , "Hedge" 1988, "Night Music" 1991, "On a gloomy star" 1994, "Yarrow" 1998, "Flying ridge" 2000, "Shrub" 2002, "Cold May" 2005, "Clouds choose anapaest" 2008.
His articles on Russian poetry and essays have been published in the books Apollo in the Snow 1991, Yarrow 1998, Wave and Stone 2003, Apollo in the Grass 2005
Eight books of selected poems by A. Kushner were published: "Canvas" 1981, "Poems" (with a preface by D.S. Likhachev) 1986, "Selected" (with a preface by I. Brodsky) 1997 Petersburg, "Poems", Moscow, 2000, " The Fifth Element" Moscow, 2000. "Favorites", Moscow 2005, "In the new century", Moscow 2006, "Times do not choose ..." St. Petersburg (Azbuka-classika publishing house) 2007
A. Kushner's poems were translated into English (book A. Kushner "Apollo in the snow" 1991, Farras, Straus and Giroux, New-York; second edition - 1992, Harvilll, London), into Italian (book Aleksandr Kushner "La poesia di San Pietroburgo", Milano, 1998, book by Aleksandr Kushner "Poesie" Edizioni Trasse 2003), into Dutch (book "Vier petersburgers" by I.Annenski, O.Mandelstam, A.Koesjner, J.Brodski; 1996, Amsterdam), into Serbian "Lyric" 2007, as well as into German, Czech, French, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Japanese and other languages.
I. Rodnyanskaya, E. Evtushenko, L. Annensky, S. Chuprinin, V. Baevsky, S. Vladimirov, E. Nevzglyadova, A. Purin, A. Alekhin, A. Stolyarov, T. Beck, wrote about the poetry of A. Kushner, A.Mashevsky, I.Shaitanov and others.

The 20th century in Russia passed under the sign of great catastrophes. Alexander Kushner believes that the awareness of the tragic experience and some conclusions drawn from it are the main things that make up the meaning of his poetry. Complaints about life, about its nonsense, as well as the romantic opposition of the poet to the crowd, seem to him deeply archaic, unproductive. You are not satisfied with life, you make claims against the universe, you dream of “returning the ticket to the creator” - there is nothing easier: millions of “killed cheaply”, as Mandelstam said, would gladly exchange fate, time and place with you. The 20th century in Russia taught a man (and a poet) to cherish simple things: the warmth of steam heating, bed linen, books on a bookshelf, talking with a friend on the phone, a woman's smile - all this at any moment could be taken away and was taken away from thousands of people. The question is not whether there is a meaning in life and whether it is worth living, but how to live this life with dignity, to realize, in spite of everything, your abilities. One of the forms of freedom revealed to man (and poetry) in the 20th century is the intellectual (and poetic) comprehension of tragedy, overcoming it, the ability to return the soul, "dying, in the best possible way."
Abstraction is contraindicated in poetry, poetry is objective and concrete - in this sense, the experience of his poetic teachers I. Annensky, O. Mandelstam, as well as their sympathy for an ordinary person, "old Estonians", "ordinary rider" is important to Alexander Kushner. At the same time, A. Kushner is organically close to the orientation of these poets towards European cultural achievements, “longing for world culture”.
A. Kushner wrote more than once in his essays, asserted in his verses the presence of poetry in life itself. Someone made sure that the spring clouds sparkled so temptingly and brightly, the lilacs bloomed so magnificently, the sea waves so rhythmically rustled, earthly love meant so much. Poetry is not an invention of the poet: the poet extracts it from the world chaos, from the raw material of life, voices it and fixes it in the word.
As for formal poetic tasks, A. Kushner is committed to Russian rhymed, regular verse, the possibilities of which (first of all, intonation) are far from exhausted, infinitely diverse (new Russian poetry is young, much younger than its European sisters, has only three centuries). And one more important point: considering the poetic epic, epic forms, including the poem with its narrative intonation and premeditated plot, as an outdated genre, supplanted by the prose of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Proust, etc., A. Kushner focused on book of poetry as a new and most productive genre of lyric poetry. The book of poems, bypassing the epic, today gives the poet the opportunity to create the most complete, meaningful, indeed grandiose picture of modern life. Lyrics are the soul of art, not only poetry, but also prose, painting, and music have been moving in the direction of lyricism for several centuries. And this is also one of the main lessons taught to a person (and a poet) in the tragic twentieth century.