Hamid Ismailov


Hamid Ismailov is an Uzbek journalist and writer, who was forced to flee Uzbekistan in 1992 to the United Kingdom, where he took a job with the BBC World Service. He left the BBC on 30 April 2019 after 25 years of service. Born in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan his works are banned in Uzbekistan.

Life and career

Ismailov graduated from the military school of communication and later several departments of Tashkent University
Ismailov has published dozens of books in Uzbek, Russian, French, German, Turkish and other languages. Among them books of poetry: "Сад" , "Пустыня" ; of visual poetry: , ; novels , Le vagabond flamboyant, Hay-ibn-Yakzan, Hostage to Celestial Turks, , and many others. He has translated Russian and Western classics into Uzbek, and Uzbek and Persian classics into Russian and some Western languages.
At the end of the 1980s he created a fictional literary group , consisting of successfully published and acclaimed heteronym poets, philosophers, literary critics, writers and translators.
During the same period, he wrote a great number of academic articles mostly on literature and Uzbek mentality, which later he placed on the Academia website.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Ismailov collaborated with French composer Michel Karsky in creating several examples of sonic or musical poetry pieces like 'Babylon eclatee' or
Ismailov's novel The Railway, originally written before he left Uzbekistan, was the first to be translated into English, by Robert Chandler, and was published in 2006. A Russian edition was published in Moscow in 1997 under the pseudonym Altaer Magdi. Another novel, A Poet and Bin-Laden, translated by Andrew Bromfield, was published in September 2012. His triptych of novels, "Мбобо", in English The Underground was published by Peirene Press early in 2014. His novel "The Devils' Dance", which was initially published in Uzbek, chapter by chapter, on Facebook, was acquired and published by Tilted Axis Press in 2018. It won the in 2019. His novel "Manaschi", translated into English by Donald Rayfield, was published by Tilted Axis Press in 2021.
On 30 April 2010, the BBC announced Ismailov's appointment as Writer in Residence for BBC World Service for two years. The blog was launched on 10 May 2010.
On the 31 December 2014 Hamid Ismailov announced on his Facebook and Twitter accounts that he stops his tenure which lasted 4,5 years.
In June 2012, Ismailov represented Uzbekistan at the in London. He took part in many literary festivals, including Hay , Edinburgh , Brooklyn , Berlin , Lahore and many others. In 2022 he had a US Universities literary tour, which started with a Retrospective Symposium of his work at Yale University . He gave lectures at a number of universities, including Ann Arbor , Chicago , Berkeley , Stanford and others.

Exile and ban

Hamid fled Uzbekistan in 1992 after the Islam Karimov regime opened a criminal case against Ismailov. The authorities said Ismailov was trying to overthrow the government and received threats against his family and attacks on his home. His works are still banned in the country. He is a vocal critic of the country's government and its poor human rights record and censorship.

Works

Poetry

  • Сад
  • Пустыня
  • Post Faustum
  • Книга Отсутстви

    Novels

  • Собрание Утончённых
  • Hay-ibn-Yakzan. Of Strangers and Bees, trans. Shelley Fairweather-Vega
  • Hostage to Celestial Turks
  • Дорога к смерти больше чем смерть. A Poet and Bin-Laden, trans. Andrew Bromfield
  • Железная дорога. The Railway, trans. Robert Chandler
  • Мбобо. The Underground, trans. Carol Ermakova
  • Googling Soul
  • Two Lost to Life
  • Вундеркинд Ержан. The Dead Lake, trans. Andrew Bromfield
  • Jinlar basmi yoxud katta o'yin. The Devils' Dance, trans. Donald Rayfield and John Farndon
  • Gaia, Queen of Ants, trans. Shelley Fairweather-Vega
  • Amber or Good Morning, Midnight
  • Manaschi, trans. Donald Rayfield
  • Русская Матрёшка
  • Bizkim - komputerlar, yo dunyoning eng go’zal shoiri
  • Туш тили/Tush Tili
  • ''Scottish Dances or Shestory© of a Whirling Balerina''

    Translation

  • Mashrab: Le Vagabond Flamboyant
  • Alisher Navoi “Ghazales”
  • ”Anthologie de la Poesie d’Ouzbekistan”