Sensuous Genius & Violent Creativity: Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky, 1915
Electrifying energy! Infectious speed! A roaring beat! Raw rhythm! Even in translation, the sensuous genius and violent creativity of Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) soar through the page. He was both a revolutionary writer and a writer who wanted to shape a revolution. Through his writing, he wished to shake people out of their habitual frames so they could both see the world and themselves in new and startling ways. He wrote words to inspire action. In 1930, Mayakovsky begins his poem “Screaming My Head Off,” addressed to us, the people who will come after him.