Ivan ZhdanovIvan Zhdanov was born in Altay, in 1948, the ninth child in a peasant family. After studying at Barnaul Agricultural College, he entered Moscow State University as a student of journalism but was soon expelled from it for being immature politically. e completed his education at Barnaul Institute of Education. In 1979, a few poems were published in a literary almanac. Zhdanov was one of the leaders of Metarealists, the group of poets that also included Alexey Parschikov and Vladimir Yeremenko. His first collection Portret / Portrait, was published in 1982, and subsequently berated by Soviet loyalist critics. His next collection, Nerazmennoe nebo / The Inconvertible Sky appeared in 1990; it was translated to English and published in the USA in 1997. Next book of his poems appeared in 1991. Zhdanov's arguably best collection, Fotorobot zapretnogo mira / Photorobot of a Forbidden World, appeared in 1997. He was awarded the Andrey Bely Prize in 1988, and the Apollon Grigoriev Prize in 1997. Zhdanov has moved to Crimea at the end of 1990s, and has since lived there. Read More Read Less