Nil Hilevich was born in the village of Slabada, in the Lahoisk District of Mensk Province. He studied in a college in Mensk, preparing to be a teacher. During the last year in college he worked as a teacher in one of the schools in Mensk. He continued his education at the Belarusian State University, and graduated in 1956. During 1960-1986 he was working at the university, and later on became a professor. In 1958 he started to work for a newspaper Zvyazda. In 1978 Hilevich joined the Communist Party. In 1980 he became the executive secretary of the Writer's Union of BSSR, and held that position for 9 years. In 1989 he became a chairperson of the Frantsishak SkarynaBelarusian Language Society. He also was the chief editor of the Society's bulletin Наша слова. In 1991 Nil Hilevich received a People's Poet of Belarus nomination. He has also received some other awards in literature.
Works
Hilevich was first published in 1946. And only after eleven years he published his verse collection, Песьня ў дарогу. The book was followed by Прадвесьне ідзе па зямлі, Неспакой, Бальшак, Перазовы, А дзе ж тая крынічанька?, Актавы, У добрай згодзе, Повязь. Hilevich has also published a number of humorous and satirical books, such as
Званковы валет
Да новых венікаў
Ці грэх, ці 2 , Як я вучыўся жыць
Русалка на Нарачы.
Nil Hilevich translates Bulgarian, Slovenian, Polish, Lutuanian, Ukrainian, and Russian prose and poetry into Belarusian. He also has written poetic verses for children, such as
Сіні домік, сіні дом
Зялёны востраў
Добры чалавек.
In 1981 his chosen works were published in a two part book. Hilevich wrote some plays which were published as a separate book Начлег на бусьлянцы in 1980. His novel Перажыўшы вайну was published in 1988. Nil Hilevich is a productive poet, also known for writing a number of books literary criticism, translations folkloric studies such as
Наша родная песня
Вусная народная творчасць і сучасная лірычная паэзія ўсходніх і паўднёвых славян.
In 2009 his chosen works were published in a book in Mensk. The book has 600 pages and contains the most important works of Hilevich.