The biography of Larisa Miller, a Soviet and Russian poetess, is surprising and inspiring. In a fragile and cheerful woman, who has a long, busy life, despite her old age, the fire of creativity is still burning. How did her career develop, and what is the poetess currently doing? This article is a biography, reviews and books of Larisa Miller.
Biography
Larisa Miller was born on March 29, 1940 in Moscow. Her father, Emelyan Miller, is a writer, and her mother, Isabella Rumer, is a journalist who worked in the Red Army during the war. Childhood passed in Krivokolenny Lane, more than once mentioned in the verses and biographies of Larisa Miller. By virtue of the profession, Larisaâs mother was personally acquainted with Anna Akhmatova, Alexei Tolstoy, Samuel Marshak and many other writers and poets who often visited Millerovâs house and constantly gave Isabella their books and even manuscripts. Her photo is presented below.
From the cradle Larisa was surrounded by literature and writers, early learned to read and compose. Her favorite writers were Tyutchev, Baratynsky and Fet. In the photo below - eight-year-old Larisa.
In 1948, Agnia Barto advised the creators of the film âFirst Grader,â which was being shot at this time, to invite Millerovâs daughter, a smart and lively girl, to play the main role. But the acting biography of Larisa Miller did not take place: the girlâs grandmother did not allow her to act, fearing the evil influence of early fame. Parents agreed with her.
In 1962, the biography of Larisa Miller was enriched with a diploma of a translator. After graduating from the Institute of Foreign Languages, she taught English in schools and colleges.
The beginning of creativity
A poetic biography of Larisa Miller began with poems for the soul. While still a student, the girl felt that she did not want to be a simple English teacher. Larisa felt a huge creative potential, but could not understand how to realize it, until the moment when her pen first touched the paper. So the future writer realized that poetry is her real vocation.
Finally, finding herself, Larisa Miller seemed to be unable to stop. She wrote several verses a day, counting hours of creativity as golden time. Most of all, she liked to leave home at six in the morning and slowly go to the dairy store, which opened at seven. This hour before dawn was a time that filled the poetess with inspiration. Here is an excerpt from early work:
No bitterness, no delight, no anger
And not a warm touch
Only the contours of houses, trees,
Roads, events and phenomena ...
In the early 60s, Larisa Miller began to attend the studio of young writers, assigned to the Writers' Union. Her work was highly appreciated by the famous poet Arseny Tarkovsky. He even wrote her a big good letter with creative parting words, which Larisa still keeps as a relic.
Book list
The biography of Larisa Miller can be tracked by published books. The first collection of poetry poems entitled "Nameless Day" was released by the publication "Soviet writer" in 1977. Due to censorship, some verses were excluded from the collection, so Larisa independently and with the help of family and friends typed 200 copies of the Supplement to the collection, which were then distributed by samizdat. After the release of this book in 1979, Larisa Miller became a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR.
In 1986, the second collection of poems entitled "Earth and the House." In the third book of Larisa, released after the collapse of the USSR, there was already not only poetry, but also prose. The collection became thematic and was released under the title âLet's Talk About the Strangeness of Loveâ. Two more collections containing poetry and prose were published in 1992 and 1993. The first was called âPoems and Proseâ, the second acquired the thoughtful name âWaiting for Oedipusâ. After a three-year hiatus, Miller produced one collection a year from 1996 to 1999. These were the books âPoems and Poemsâ, âNotes, notes, strokesâ, âHolidaysâ, âBetween the Cloud and the Pitâ. For the last in 1999, the writer was nominated for the State Prize in the field of art and literature.
In 2004, entitled âWhere's Good?â Everywhere and Nowhere âa complete collection of poems by Larisa Miller, written from 1963 to 2002, was published. This collection was accompanied by a book containing reviews on the work of the writer. Here, for example, what the New World magazine wrote in 1999:
The poetry of Larisa Miller is a vivid example of the triumph of Russian speech and Russian classical verse with its exact rhymes, laconicism, Pushkin, Tyutchev, and Fetov puzzles.
Since the publication of this book, since 2010 another 5 collections of contemporary art have been released. The last published book at the moment is Hundred Shades of Grass and Water, released in 2017.
Poems in gusto
The creative biography of Larisa Miller is not limited to prints. Since February 2011, the poetess began blogging in LiveJournal under the title âPoems in one piece. Prose: about this and that. â This project is unique among writers, as every morning for the past seven years Larissa has been posting a poetic post containing photographs, explanations and thoughts. At least 700 people read it daily.
Other occupations
From 1980 to the present day, Larisa Miller has been a teacher of women's musical gymnastics according to the system of Lyudmila Alekseeva. From childhood, Larisa gravitated to dancing and movement, but could not find a place for herself in musical creativity. Having learned about the technique that Alekseeva invented at the beginning of the twentieth century, Miller finally realized what she needed. Larisa's program includes classes with women of three age groups. Below is a photo taken at one of Millerâs classes in 1983 (the poetess in the photo on the right).
In addition, Miller is a member of the Russian PEN Center, which promotes and advocates for writers and poets.
Personal life
Since 1962, Larisa Miller has been married to Boris Altshuler, a Soviet and Russian physicist. The spouses have two sons - Ilya and Pavel.