He completed his secondary education in 1954 and began writing two years later.

While there, he joined a literary association for young writers led by Gleb Semyonov [ru].

He also served with a building battalion [ru] in the north and graduated in 1962.

He then began writing poetry and short, absurdist stories which were not published until the 1990s.

In 1988, he was one of the founders of the Russian PEN Club and was its President beginning in 1991.