[1][2][3] He was the youngest of nine children in a Hasidic, Jewish household and a cousin of Simon and Abraham Halkin.

He would then move to Moscow in 1922, after having lived in Kiyv for a year, where he published his debut collection Lider (Songs) with the help of David Hofstein.

[11][2] During World War II Halkin was a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee and served on the editorial board of its journal Eynikayt, during which he wrote about the Shoah.

[1][8] Halkin would develop a cordial relationship with fellow committee member and neighbor Peretz Markish.

[8][13] Along with his original works, Halkin was known for translating the poems of Pushkin, Yesenin, Blok, Mayakovsky, Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear into Yiddish.