The article deals with a phenomenon unique for Belarusian literature of the Soviet period: the dissident, non‐conformist work of Znich (Oleg Bembel). In the context of the history of Belarusian literature, the poet is known as the author of religious‐patriotic and spiritual‐meditative poems, many of which were created outside the walls of the monastery, where the poet has lived since 1996. The author of the article explores a little‐known page in the writer’s work: the early, dissident poetry of Oleg Bembel of the first half of the 1980s, which was distributed in manuscripts, samizdat, was published in the émigré press (newspaper and the “Belarus” publishing house). In terms of genre, these were mostly short epigrams and poems dedicated to the classics of Belarusian literature (Francis Bahushevich, Janka Kupala, Maxim Bahdanovich). Thematically the article is concerned with poems about the tragic situation of the Belarusian language, culture, science in the USSR, Russification and the decline of spirituality in an atheistic country. Attention is drawn to the artistic form of the poems, emphasized is their attachment to the intellectual and philosophical trends within modern Belarusian poetry.

The article addresses poetic monologues in the works of the Belarusian poet Anatoly Sys, one of the founders and creative leader of the legendary literary group “Tutejšyja” (‘Locals’) (1986-1989). The poet turned to poetic monologue at different periods of his work, being especially active in the second half of the 1980s, during Gorbachev’s perestroika and the new wave of Belarusian national revival. Exhibiting outstanding acting abilities, Anatolʹ Sys recited his poetic monologues at parties and illegal rallies, hiding national revival and anti-Communist ideas relevant for his time behind the guise of famous historical figures – Apanas Filipovič, Zmicier Žylunovič, Alesʹ Harun, Karusʹ Kahaniec and others. In addition to their journalistic sharpness, A. Sys’s best poetic monologues are of a high artistic quality with a universal philosophical content, which has allowed them to pass beyond time and become a part of the golden fund of 20th-century Belarusian poetry (Monologue of a “Local”, Monologue of Apanas Filipovič, Monologue of an Unfrocked Priest, Monologue of an Apostate, Monologue of Karusʹ Kahaniec).