Vasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier by Alexander Tvardovsky Abegail Morley The bawdy of Catullus becomes

The bawdy of Catullus becomes Scots ‘Hochmagandy’

And despite the global tendency towards homogenisation

here is a bold choir of voices demanding independence and celebrating their hard-won power

There is connection with a much-loved father

slender and pale/for moments

Vasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier by Alexander Tvardovsky Abegail Morley The bawdy of Catullus becomesVasili Tyorkin: A Book about a Soldier is one of the great epic poems of the Second World War. Published in army newspapers and broadcast on the radio between 1942 and 1945, it was hugely popular with Soviet soldiers, many of whom believed it was about a real person was real. Private Tyorkin is an accordion playing Everyman figure, who moves between comedy and reluctant heroism. He is a cheerful grumbler always on the lookout for food and a quick kip,