[2] After finishing 9th grade in school in 1929, Ostrovoy moved to Tomsk, where he worked as a reporter for the newspaper "Krasnoe Znamya" ("Red Banner").
[3][4] While in Moscow, Ostrovoy participated in a competition for a military komsomol song where his poem "Nalivalis' topoli" ("Poplars were pouring") was picked by two composers and received two prizes.
There Ostrovoy wrote a song "We won't give up the Soviet Primoriye" that caught the attention of Blyukher.
[5] In July 1941, shortly after the Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union, Ostrovoy enlisted as a volunteer in the Red Army and was sent to the front.
[1] In the post-war period Ostrovoy became widely known as the author of lyrics for many popular songs in the Soviet Union.