"Praspekt Nezhalyezhnastsi" by Mikita Naydzenau: Passion, Audacity, and a Lot of Beloved Minsk

Poet Mikita Naydzenau. Photo from his Facebook page

One thing Naydzenau cannot be denied is his utmost sincerity. If you somehow don't know the love story between him and his wife, then in broad strokes, it went like this: they dated, she left for someone else, got married (it was good and comfortable, but something wasn't right), she long considered breaking up, and — finally did. 

Even bridges —
they too —
are drawn apart. 
You are still stuck. 
Like a captive,
like a weak-willed one, 
though you claim:
you're mine. 

Against formality,
against normalcy
my heart
protests, look!
You say, 
we will still
make it work.

Oh, stop bulls***ting. 

Nevertheless, this is a story with a happy ending: the protagonists are now together, married, and have a child. However, Belarusian reality added a twist to this story that would have been better left out: in March 2023, Mikita was arrested, and he went through hell. This separation coincided with the last months of his wife's pregnancy.

If one didn't know any of this, the intensity and romantic suffering in the collection "Praspekt Nezhalyezhnastsi" might even be a little irritating. The author, I'm sure, knows this himself, which is why he teases the reader by adding as an epigraph to the collection: 

It probably happened historically:
A poet is always a bit hysterical. 

Mikita's reputation has been roughly like this since he challenged the jury of the "Debut" award to a poetry battle in 2016. Back then, I recall, the young poet was dissatisfied with the jury members' decision not to award the prize to any of the short-listers (who were Anhela Espinosa, Ales Plotka, and Mikita Naydzenau), but instead to award everyone with consolation cash prizes. This was because, they claimed, the level of the young poets was equal, and it was impossible to choose an equal among equals. 

Павялічыць

Poet Mikita Naydzenau. Photo: taubinpoetry.com

But besides the romantic sufferings of a young heart, "Praspekt Nezhalyezhnastsi" is also a book-nostalgia for a Minsk that no longer exists. It's not even about architecture, but about the atmosphere and the people. The collection is entirely imbued with Minsk:

To take the twelfth, the fortieth,
to get off at the Opera…

Or:

It's still good
to smoke on the balcony in the rain
or unhurriedly walk 
the entire Independence Avenue
along its length.

Павялічыць

The collection was designed by the talented artist Lizaveta Lyankevich, known for illustrating many Belarusian books, including such Belarusian classics as Barshcheuski's "Shlyakhtsits Zavalnya, or Belarus in Fantastic Tales" and Kolas's "New Land". The illustrations for "Praspekt Nezhalyezhnastsi" feature the Opera House, Svislach River, Gorky Park and its Ferris wheel, Victory Square and vases being repainted from yellow to white. Cafes and musicians in the pedestrian underpass, "Central Bookstore" and "Tsentralny" cinema. Such is this nostalgic and metaphysical stroll through a city dear to the heart. 

Павялічыць

Fashionable, handsome
to step out for any reason or none:
with the city,
with pride, 
Connor
And with such a step
towards adventures,
which have long been watching you
on Niamiha
or somewhere beyond Kamarouka.

Mikita Naydzenau's first collection was released in 2015. "Praspekt Nezhalyezhnastsi" is about life between 2015 and 2020. These are carefree (from our current vantage point) wanderings through the city, romantic sufferings, reflections on creativity and relationships, a few recollections-meditations about parents, a lot of audacity and posturing. 

Павялічыць

It must also be said that Mikita Naydzenau is one of the few young Belarusian poets who write in rhyme. And those who write well in rhyme in an era of free verse can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Павялічыць

Naydzenau's rhymes are vibrant, his style is recognizable, even unique. And "Praspekt Nezhalyezhnastsi" turned out exactly like that: bold, bright, memorable.

For people of delicate mental organization
It's hard to find zen.
Everything imprints itself on memory
from colonization to sewage.
And rarely anyone admits
what ruined the day.

For people of simple mental organization
they couldn't care less.

Mikita Naydzenau. Praspekt Nezhalyezhnastsi — Warsaw: Janushkevich, 2025

• 11
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 2