Draft:Boris Ilyin (writer)
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Boris Kiril Ilyin (Russian: Борис Кириллович Ильин; 28 August 1918 - 10 August 2014) was a Russian-American novelist and painter.[1] Ilyin was born in Kazan, Russia during the Russian Revolution and immigrated to California in 1923.[2]
After a career in the U.S. Army during World War II, he became a student of Wallace Stegner at Stanford University, where he was among the first recipients, along with Rory Barnes, of the Stegner Fellowship[3]. While a student at Stanford, Ilyin wrote his first novel, "Green Boundary"[4], based on his experiences with displaced persons during the postwar occupation of Germany[5]; the title is a reference to the border between the American occupation zone in Germany and the Soviet one.
He received the M.A. in 1949 and remained at Stanford, teaching English.[6] During this time, he, Stegner and Richard Scowcroft wrote "The Writer's Art"[7], a collection of short stories interleaved with literary analysis.
After a short time teaching at Pomona College, Ilyin began what he later described [8]as "participation" in the Cold War. Some sources describe him as having a career "in the foreign service"[6]. However, his second novel, "False Flag", is told from the point of view of a CIA agent with the same initials as Ilyin, active during the same years. This has been considered[9] tacit acknowledgment that Ilyin worked for the CIA. Additionally, a published bio[2] mentions his work in "intelligence".
Ilyin retired from government service in 1969 to write and paint. His work, which focused on California landscapes[2] was exhibited publicly beginning in 1970, including at his alma mater of Stanford.
Ilyin's second novel, "False Flag", was published in 2013 when he was 94. Its protagonist is a CIA agent concerned with a fictional Central African country during the 1960s; during this time, Ilyin is recorded[10] as having been present at high-level State Department meetings concerning the Central African country of Congo.
Ilyin died August 10, 2014 and is buried in San Rafael, California.
Category:American writers of Russian descent
References
[edit]- ^ "Boris Ilyin, 1918-2014". Marin Independent Journal. August 19, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ a b c Hughes, Edan (2002). Artists in California, 1786-1940. Crocker Art Museum. OCLC 77497974.
- ^ "Former Stegner Fellows". Stanford Creative Writing Program. 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ Ilyin, Boris (1949). Green Boundary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 3868024.
- ^ Edward A. Laycock (August 28, 1949). "Books to Read". Boston Globe. p. 77.
- ^ a b "Farewells". Stanford Magazine. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University. January–February 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ Stegner, Wallace; Scowcroft, Richard; Ilyin, Boris (1950). The writer's art. Boston: Heath. OCLC 296838.
- ^ Ilyin, Boris (2013). False Flag. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781491835005. OCLC 1124492410.
- ^ "False Flag". Blue Link Reviews. February 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ Lawler, Daniel J.; Mahan, Erin R., eds. (2010). Congo, 1960-1968. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968. Vol. XXIII. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.