Iosif [Joseph] Brodsky, a man of unique creative experience, was a dissident poet who, after being banned in his homeland, Russia, and forced into emigration, went on to become Poet Laureate of the United States and a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The versatility of his talent is extraordinary: he became prominent as a Russian poet, as an essayist and a literary critic in English, and as a translator. He has also been well regarded, in certain quarters at least, as an Anglophone poet. His literary works and enlightening educational activities made him a key public figure in world culture towards the end of the twentieth century.

Brodsky was born on 24^th May 1940 in Leningrad, in the former Soviet Union (

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First published 25 October 2004

Citation: Volgina, Arina. "Joseph Brodsky". The Literary Encyclopedia. 25 October 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5853, accessed 9 February 2010.]