Ak Welsapar
Ak Welsapar is a Swedish-Turkmen journalist and writer.
In 1979, he received a Master's degree in journalism at Moscow State University. In 1989, he received a Master's degree in literary theory from Maxim Gorky Literature Institute.
As a journalist in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic as well as after its declaration of independence in 1991, Welsapar published investigative works that were critical of government mismanagement. In 1992, he was placed under house arrest and later removed from both the Writers’ Union and the Union of the Journalists of Turkmenistan, with his works being banned. He left Turkmenistan for Moscow in 1993 and has lived in Sweden since 1994, where he runs Gün Förlag with his wife, printing books that have been censored by totalitarian regimes.
Welsapar writes in Turkmen, Russian and Swedish, and is the author of more than 20 books, many of which have been translated into other languages, such as English, German, Swedish, Russian and Ukrainian. His first book translated into English was his novel The Tale of Aypi, which was followed in 2018 by translations of The Revenge of the Foxes and the short stories compiled in ''Death of the Snake Catcher.''
Novels
- 1988 – Gawunkelle. Ashgabat: Magaryf, . Written in 1984.
- 1988 – Ahal aýak ýeterde. Ashgabat: Turkmenistan, . Also known as Ahal aýak astynda.
- 1988 – Aýpi ''hakyndaky rowaýat. Moscow: Sovetsky Pisatel.
- * 2016 - The Tale of Aypi. Translated by W.M. Coulson, London: Glagoslav Publications,
- 1990 – Böwsülen tümlük. Ashgabat: Sowet edebiyaty, Nr 11–12, ISSN 0205-9975
- 1991 – Köne halydaky egri gylyç. Ashgabat: Yashlyk, ISSN 0235-0939
- 1992 – Месть рода лисицы. Ashgabat: «Ашхабад», ISSN 0320-9342
- * 2018 - The Revenge of the Foxes. Translated by Richard Govett. London: Glagoslav Publications,
- 1996 – Mülli Tahyryň Hudaýlygy. Lulea: Grafiska Huset
- 2002 – Kepjebaş''. Stockholm: Författares Bokmashin,
Short story collections
- 2000 – Halkyň haky. Stockholm: Gün Förlag,
- 2004 – Şor iňrik. Stockholm: Gün Förlag,
- 2018 – Death of the Snake Catcher. Translated by Lois Kapila, Youssef Azemoun, and Richard Govett, London: Glagoslav Publications,
Poetry
- 1986 – Sepgit. Ashgabat: Magaryf, I – 06848
- 1996 – Ak öý. Lulea: Grafiska Huset
- 2005 – Watanym galdy. Stockholm: Gün Förlag, 2005;
Other
- 1994 – Ак аждарханын йориши. Moscow: Samizdat
- 1998 – Det nya landet. Grönt te. Goteborg: Lindelöws Publishing,
- 2006 – Ak guş bolup uçsamdym!. Stockholm: Gün Förlag,
- 2008 – Ene dilim – öz öýüm. Stockholm: Gün Förlag
- 2009 – Ýagtylykda ýitenler. Stockholm: Gün Förlag, .
- 2011 – Skapandet: talang och erfarenhet. I språkets hus. Uppsala: Kultur i Länet,
- 2013 – Den underbara sångens hem. Stockholm: Gün Förlag,
- 2013 – Речной конь Дюль-Дюль. Stockholm: Gün Förlag,
- 2015 - Poesi för världen samman.'' Lyfta locket av Uppsala. Uppsala: Litteraturcentrum,
Individual stories
- 2015 - "Love History". Translated by Youssef Azemoun, London: The Magazin Xindex on Censorship, Nr 2, -0
- 2015 - У оврага за последними домами / Gorpuň gyrasynda. Stockholm: Gün Förlag,