The famous Belarusian poet, prose writer, and socio-political figure Uladzimir Niakliayeu turns 80. According to documents, the official date of the anniversary is July 9, but the writer himself celebrates his true birthday on July 11.
The poet celebrates his anniversary in another forced emigration in Poland.
On the occasion of the artist's 80th birthday, a creative evening for Niakliayeu will take place on July 11 in Wrocław, in the courtyard of the National Ossoliński Institute (ul. Szewska, 37, Ossolineum courtyard, start — at 6 PM). During the meeting, songs based on the jubilee's poems will be performed, and his new books will be presented — a collection of short stories "Holy Spring" (in Belarusian and Polish) and a book of dramatic poems "Litviny".
Uladzimir Prakopavich Niakliayeu was born in 1946 in Smarhon in a family of a Russian and a Belarusian. The future poet's childhood was spent in the ancient town of Kreva, which became his main creative anchor and "personal cosmos."
In his youth, Niakliayeu was involved in music and boxing.
He chose his first profession far from literature — in 1966, he graduated from the Minsk Electrotechnical College of Communications, after which he worked as a communications specialist in the North and Siberia, and upon returning to Minsk — as a radio mechanic.
Later, he completed a correspondence course at the Faculty of Philology of the Minsk Pedagogical Institute and studied at the Literary Institute in Moscow.
He wrote his first poems in Russian, but during his studies, he fully switched to the Belarusian language.
Since 1972, he worked in journalism. From 1978, he was the senior editor of the main editorial office of literary and dramatic programs of Belarusian Television, from 1987, he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Krynitsa" and the weekly "Litaratura i Mastatstva" (Literature and Art).
Uladzimir Niakliayeu headed major literary associations in the country: he was the chairman of the Union of Belarusian Writers (1998—2001) and the Belarusian PEN Center (2005—2009).
Emigration
In the late 1990s, the leadership of the Union of Belarusian Writers, along with Niakliayeu, openly opposed the signing of the treaty on the creation of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. Due to political pressure, in 1999, the poet left Belarus and lived in Poland and Finland. He returned to his homeland in 2003 after the death of Vasil Bykau.
In 2010, Niakliayeu headed the public campaign "Speak the Truth" and nominated himself for the presidential elections.
On voting day, December 19, 2010, his initiative group was attacked by security forces on the way to the square. The poet was severely beaten and hospitalized with a craniocerebral injury, from where he was forcibly taken to the KGB pre-trial detention center during the night. He was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment with a suspended sentence on charges of organizing actions that grossly violated public order. In 2013, he was released from serving his sentence.
After leaving opposition structures in 2015, he created the movement "For Statehood and Independence of Belarus." In 2020, he actively supported the protests and participated in mass marches in Minsk. He finally left Belarus in February 2022 after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
He currently lives in Wrocław.
Creative Legacy
Uladzimir Niakliayeu is the author of dozens of poetry collections, poems, and novels ("Labukh", "Soda Machine with Syrup and Without", "Hey Ben Hinom").
His works have been translated into many European languages.
Recipient of numerous awards and prizes. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2011.
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