Dmytro Kremin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dmytro Kremin Дмитро Кремінь
Born	(1953-08-21)21 August 1953 Irshava, Ukraine
Died	25 May 2019(2019-05-25) (aged 65) Mykolaiv, Ukraine
Occupation	Poet, essayist, journalist, translator
Language	Ukrainian
Nationality	Ukrainian
Alma mater	Uzhhorod National University
Genre	Poetry, essay, translation, song lyric
Notable awards	The Taras Shevchenko National Literary Prize (1999); The Honored Worker of Arts of Ukraine (2016)

Dmytro Dmytrovych Kremin (Ukrainian: Дмитро Дмитрович Кремінь; born August 21, 1953 – died May 25, 2019) was a famous Ukrainian poet, journalist, and translator. He won the important Taras Shevchenko National Literary Prize in 1999 for his book of poems called Pectoral.

Dmytro Kremin's Life Story

Dmytro Kremin was born on August 21, 1953, in a village called Suha in the Zakarpattia region of Ukraine. He studied language and literature at Uzhhorod National University and graduated in 1975.

After university, he became a school teacher in the Mykolaiv region. He taught Russian and Ukrainian languages and literature. Later, he worked for a local newspaper.

In 1979, Dmytro Kremin moved to the city of Mykolaiv with his wife, Olha, and their one-year-old son, Taras. Mykolaiv became his second home. There, he taught Ukrainian literature at a university. He also led a regional literary group called Dzherela ("Sources").

From 1981 to 1990, he worked as a department head for a big youth newspaper. Later, from 1991 to 2008, he was an editor for Ridne Prybuzhzhia, the main newspaper of the Mykolaiv region. From 2010, he led the Mykolaiv branch of the National Writers' Union of Ukraine and edited a magazine called Soborna Vulytsia ("Cathedral Street").

Dmytro Kremin started writing poetry when he was a student. His poems first appeared in literary magazines in the early 1970s. He became friends with other well-known writers and poets from his region. He was also a member of several important writing groups.

He was honored with the title "The Honored Worker of Arts of Ukraine" in 2016. He was also a member of the National Writers' Union of Ukraine since 1979. His son, Taras Kremin, is a Ukrainian politician.

Challenges and Resistance

During the 1970s, when Leonid Brezhnev was in power, artists and writers in Ukraine faced many challenges. The government was very strict and didn't like people who criticized the Soviet system.

Many writers faced difficulties. For example, Ivan Chendei was criticized for his book, and Petro Skunts for his poem. Some books were even destroyed.

Dmytro Kremin believed that these actions by the government were meant to stop creative people. But young people, including Kremin, didn't give up. He traveled and met other artists who also wanted more freedom.

Dmytro Kremin and his friend Mykola Matola even started their own small press. They used an old typewriter to create their literary journal, Skrynia ("Chest"). Because of this, the government started to watch them closely and caused problems for them.

When Dmytro Kremin's first book was almost ready to be published in 1974, he faced strong criticism. Some people accused him of having "free-spirited thinking" and being unclear in his writing. He was even threatened with being expelled from the university.

Luckily, the university president, Dmytro Chepur, helped him. Chepur explained that Kremin's writing style was inspired by famous Ukrainian poets like Taras Shevchenko. This saved Kremin from being kicked out.

Books of Poetry

Dmytro Kremin wrote many collections of poems:

• Travneva Arka ("May Arch") 1978
• Pivdenne Siayvo ("Southern Splendour") 1982
• Tanok Vohniu ("Dance of Fire") 1983
• Burshtynovyi Zhuravel ("An Amber Crane") 1987
• Shliah po Zoriah ("Pathway Beneath the Stars") 1990
• Skifske Zoloto: poezii ("Scythian Gold: poems") 1996
• Pektoral ("Pectoral") 1997
• Elehiya Troianskoho Vyna ("Elegy For Trojan Wine") 2001
• Litopys: Vybrane ("Chronicle: Selected Poems") 2003
• Atlantyda Pid Verboiu: Vybrani Poeziyi ("Atlantis Under the Willow Tree: Selected Poems") 2003
• Synopsys ("Synopsis") 2005
• Poliuvannia na Dykoho Vepra (The Hunt for the Wild Boar") 2006
• Litnii Chas ("Summertime") 2007
• Vybrani Tvory ("Selected Works") 2007
• Lampada nad Syniukhoiu ("A Candlelight Above Syniuha" in co-authorship with Andrii Antoniuk, the People's Artist of Ukraine) 2007
• Skifske Zoloto ("Scythian Gold") 2008
• Dva Bereha ("Two Shores") 2008
• Zamurovana Muzyka ("Walled-up Music") 2011
• Medovyi Misiats u Karfaheni ("Honeymoon in Carthage") 2013
• Lito Hospodnie (The Year of the Lord") 2016
• Skrypka z Toho Bereha ("A Violin on the Other Shore") 2016
• Sliozy Suhoho Fontanu ("Tears of the Dry Fountain") 2016

Translation Work

Dmytro Kremin was also a talented translator. He helped bring many poems from other languages into Ukrainian, and his own poems were translated into other languages too!

Here are some languages he translated from into Ukrainian:

• Russian (poems by Borys Pasternak, Andrii Voznesenskii, and others)
• Georgian (poems by Lasha Nadareishvili, M. Tsyklauri, and others)
• Ossetian (poems by S. Mindiashvili, V. Ikayev, and N. Bakati)
• German (poems by Heinrich Heine, Johann Wolfgang Goethe)
• Polish (poems by Zbigniew Herbert, Tadeusz Różewicz, and others)
• Slovak (poems by L'ubomir Feldek, Jan Kostra, and Emil Boleslav Lukáč)

And here are some languages Dmytro Kremin's poems were translated into:

• Russian
• English (by Svitlana Ischenko and Russell Thornton)
• Latin
• Slovak
• Chinese

Some collections of his translated poetry include:

• Olviyskii Transit ("An Olbian Transit", 2006) – translated into Russian.
• Dva Berehy ("Two Shores", 2007) – a book with poems in three languages: Ukrainian, Russian, and English. This book won an international prize in 2010.
• Poems From the Scythian Wild Field (2016) – a selection of his poems translated into English and published in Canada.

Poetry and Journalism

Dmytro Kremin's writings were published in many well-known literary magazines. These include Vitchyzna ("Motherland"), Kyiv, Suchasnist ("Modern Times"), and even international magazines like London Magazine and Prism International. His work also appeared in newspapers and online.

He wrote essays that gained national attention, like Tayemnytsia Sarkofaha ("The Mystery of a Sarcophagus") and Planeta pid Verboiu ("A Planet Under a Willow Tree"). He also wrote articles about famous artists, actors, and other writers.

In 2011, he wrote an essay called Pischanyi Hodynnyk Ukrainy ("A Sand Clock of Ukraine") with his son, Taras Kremin.

Awards and Honors

Dmytro Kremin received many awards for his writing and contributions to art:

• The Vasyl Chumak Ukrainian National Literary Prize (1987)
• The Mykola Arkas Cultural Prize (1994)
• The Taras Shevchenko National Literary Prize (1999) – a very important award in Ukraine.
• Citizen of the Year in the Arts (Mykolaiv, 1999)
• The Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (2010)
• The Volodymyr Svidzinskyi Ukrainian National Literary Prize (2011)
• The Zoreslav Ukrainian National Literary Prize (2013)
• The Volodymyr Sosiura Ukrainian National Literary Prize (2013)
• The Leonid Vysheslavskyi Ukrainian National Literary Prize (2013)
• The Ivan Koshelivets International Literary Prize (2014)
• The Honored Worker of Arts of Ukraine (2016)