Sergey Shestakov is a poet whose work many authoritative critics consider a phenomenon in contemporary Russian poetry. In spirit and imagery, he is close to Osip Mandelstam, while being an authentic author with his own unique style.
Biography
Shestakov Sergey Alekseevich was born in Moscow on January 29, 1962 in a “mathematical” family. Father taught at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, and it seemed that the fate of the future poet was predetermined - to become a scientist.
Indeed, the young man graduated from the Mechmath of Moscow State University, but the soul demanded a search for his own path. For four years, Sergei Shestakov worked as a geologist, and night commandant, and engineer, until he realized that his true calling was pedagogy.
Profession - Teaching Children
After working a little at the pedagogical institute, Sergey Alekseevich turned into a regular school as a mathematics teacher. That's just a teacher, he was unusual. Being an innovator, he developed his own pedagogical techniques, wrote fifty manuals. But at the same time, for the soul, he threw out poems about love, about being, about his own emotions, feelings, on paper.
Sergey Alekseevich was repeatedly recognized as the “Teacher of the Year” at various levels, including the all-Russian one. His collections of Honored titles are envied by many. In 1995 he was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" of the second degree. At the same time, a mathematics teacher at SBEI secondary school No. 7 is the deputy editor-in-chief of the literary journal New Beach.
Joy of reading
The verses of Shestakov and Mandelstam are not accidentally compared. Sergei Alekseevich says that it was this poet who became the most revered for him in his youth. No wonder that their eight verses are consonant.
From childhood, Sergey Shestakov was an inveterate reader. His cohort of selected prose writers included (and includes) Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pasternak, Bunin. In addition to Mandelstam, he loves the poetry of Pushkin, Tyutchev, Baratynsky, Derzhavin, Fet, Yazykov, Vyazemsky. The magnificent library of Moscow State University made it possible to read rare works, which were impossible to acquire under the USSR. The richness of the language palette of the “adult” Sergei Alekseevich, of course, stems from the accumulated baggage of works read in his youth.
Creation
Sergey Shestakov is printed a lot and often. The list of specialized authoritative publications that published his eighties is impressive: Literary Newspaper, Neva, Zvezda, Volga, Znamya, Ural, Novy Bereg and others.
Also Sergey Alekseevich published full-length poetry collections:
- “Poems” (two parts: 1993, 1997);
- Indirect Speech (2007);
- "Scholia" (2011);
- “Other landscapes” (2015, international literary award “21st Century Writer”).
The poet tours a lot, does not neglect creative evenings even in small towns. A frequent participant in forums, contests.
Criticism
Although the work of critics is “to take apart the bones of unhappy authors,” hyperbolizing the slightest flaws, they are approving of Shestakov’s work. Literary scholars note not only the wealth of vocabulary, but the wealth of verbal images, sometimes unexpected, but always accurate and capacious.
Sergei Alekseevich attributed to underground poets. At a time when poems about love are most in demand among readers, he is not afraid to reveal complex topics. Not afraid to push the audience away. Only a thinking, searching person is able to appreciate the complex range of feelings, thoughts, the creative message of the author.
... and life lasts, like an echo lasts,
When the voices fall silent
Shestakov’s track as a mathematics teacher is noticeable in his work. His texts, like equations, require solutions. They are not enough to read. The laconic eight-standers are generously flavored with understatement-dots and exclamation points suggestive. The author himself does not separate mathematics and poetry, believing that these are different interpretations of the same processes.
Way to god
Shestakov often appeals to God, which is strange for a “preacher of the exact sciences,” brought up by the ideals of the Soviet era. Can an individual who has received a brilliant technical education, a mathematician by profession, carry highly spiritual values? Do not forget, first of all, Sergey is a teacher. A man whose sacred duty is to teach to think, to teach a lesson, to become a conductor of new knowledge. In a word, teacher.
and a cloud of white clay curls up
while she barely audible she says: god ...
Most of the poems Sergey Alekseevich writes without using capital letters. Apparently, emphasizing the importance of each word. As a result of reading, the image of prayer is formed - monotonous, but important in meaning. Darkness and light are frequent heroes of the author. And also shadows, penumbra, tones, halftones, individual colors and their mixing.
Shestakov's works are perhaps overly pessimistic. There is a deep, even global subtext, which I want to understand forever. Eight lines sometimes make more sense than poems of "second-rate" authors.
Total
Shestakov Sergey is included in the galaxy of the best poets of modern Russia. He manages to combine mentoring, creativity, community service. He took place as a teacher, as a poet, as a citizen.
Sergey Alekseevich with other authors speaks to devoted fans of poetry. He is actively involved in the publication of the New Coast litz magazine both as deputy editor and author.