December 24, 1971 by Joseph Brodsky (grades 10+)

Iosif Alexandrovich Brodsky was forced to move out of his native country. He later altered his name to fit the western interpretation to Joseph Brodsky. Joseph was born in the middle of WWII to Jewish parents in the Soviet Union. His keen intellect, ironic wit, fiery spirit and thirst for knowledge didn’t align with the ideologies and politics of Soviet Russia and for these reasons he was practically exiled from his home land. Persecuted for his pursuit of artistic and individual voice he was tried and even sent to a labour camp by the government. Described in his own words “They have simply kicked me out of my country, using the Jewish issue as an excuse.” Having moved to Michigan in 1972 Brodsky subsequently taught, pursued his career in writing and was even a recipient of a Nobel Prise for his work.