«This volume contains a selection of early works by Yevgeny Alexandrovich Yevtushenko who blazed a trail for a generation of Soviet poets with a confident poetic voice that moves effortlessly between social and personal themes. «Zima Junction» vividly describes his idyllic childhood in Siberia and his impressions of home after a long absence in Moscow. Private moments are captured in «Waking», on the joys of discovering the unexpected in a lover, and «Birthday», on a mother's concern for her son, while «Encounter» depicts an unexpected meeting with Hemingway in Copenhagen. «The Companion» and «Party Card» show war from a child's eye, whether playing while oblivious to German bombs falling nearby or discovering a fatally wounded soldier in the forest, while Yevtushenko's famous poem, «Babiy Yar», is an angry expose of the Nazi massacre of the Jews of Kiev.»
