Born on 01 01 1941 in Mažeikiai, Molėtai district.
In 1958 graduated from Molėtai secondary school. In 1958-1960 he worked as a stonemason and director of a cultural house. 1960-1965 studied at Vilnius University, graduated in Lithuanian Studies. Until 1970 he was a teacher in Molėtai. In 1970-1976 he was an instructor of the Culture Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania. 1976-1990 Secretary of the Board of the Lithuanian Writers' Union (1985-1990 First Secretary of the Board), member of the editorial board of the weekly "Literature and Art". In 1978 he defended his dissertation as a Candidate of Philology (Doctor of Humanities). From 1990 to 2013 he taught at Vilnius Pedagogical University (since 2011 Lithuanian University of Education), since 1992 he has been the Dean of the Faculty of Lithuanian Studies, Associate Professor and Professor of the Department of Lithuanian Literature. Since 1995 he has been a member of the University Senate, since 1999 a member of the editorial board of the University's academic journal "Man and Word". He has been publishing reviews and critical articles in the press since 1971.