Igor Pomerantsev was born in Saratov, USSR, in 1948. He studied English philology and pedagogy at the University of Chernovtsy (Czernowitz). His poetry was first published in 1972 in the Moscow magazine „Smena“. At this time he also became involved with the Ukrainian civil right movement. In 1976 Pomerantsev was arrested by KGB, accused of distributing anti-Soviet literature and listening to foreign, „enemy“, radio stations. In 1977 he was officially encouraged to emigrate, and the next year he left for Germany. In 1979 he moved to London to for the Russian Service of the BBC. In 1987 he moved to Munich to produce the Russian-language culture program „Over the Barriers“ for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which he continues to do to this day.
Pomerantsev has lived in Prague since 1995. Awards: P.A.Viazemskij Prize-winner (1996, Niznij Novgorod), Literary Magazine „October“ Prize-winner (2006, Moscow), International Radio Festival Prize-winner (2011, Tallinn), Tsarkoselskaya Khudozhestennaya Premiya (2013, Petersburg).
Photo Vasyl Salyga
