UNESCO Ambassador Olzhas Suleimenov gave a speech about Kazakh Culture at George Washington University
The Kazakh Culture; Legacies and Innovation conference organized by the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian studies was held at George Washington University in Washington DC on November 6. I got a great chance to visit the event and met many respected, well known, successful and smart people like Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Marlene Laruelle, Peter Rollberg, Michael Rouland, Sean Roberts, Sebastien Peyrouse; the professors from George Washington University who specialize in European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Olzhas Suleimanov; Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to UNESCO, Gaukhar Gia Noortas; the founder of Mount Helix Films Inc. located in Los Angeles, CA and many others.
KazSocial
The conference took up the whole day, but it never got boring. I want to admit that the event was well organized and split into six parts of the discussion: Keynote Address, Legacies and Innovations in Kazakh Literarature, Politics and Sociaety on the Screen, Performing Music and Identity, the Art Scene: Plurarity and Market and Dombra performance. After almost each panel the organizers offered a coffee and snacks, where all the participants and guests could share their impressions about the speakers’ speeches. During one of those breaks, I came up to Olzhas Suleimenov and asked him for permission to give me an interview. Olzhas Suleimenov agreed to answer my questions. Thus, my dear readers, only for you, the interview from Olzhas Suleimenov here and now.
KazSocial
Olzhas Suleymanov is a poet, a social and political activist of Kazakhstan, diplomat who is writing in Russian. He was the one who initiated and leaded the people’s movement “Nevada – Semipalatinsk”. Olzhas Suleimenov took a huge part in the development of Kazakhstan. Many poems written by Olzhas Suleimenov then were translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Czech, Polish, Slovak, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Mongolian and Turkish. At present time Olzhas Sulemenov is the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to UNESCO.
Dear Mr. Olzhas Suleimanov, I know that you were working as a geologist, and you were also working in geo-exploration parties. But in 1995 you started to work in the area of literature. Please tell us how you started working with literature? Were there any people who helped you switch to this field ? How did you discover your talent? Do you remember your first book?
Yes, I have first graduated from the Geology Department at Kazakh State University. But then I was accepted at Moscow Literature University, because I have always been interested in reading and even tried to write for the newspapers.
My first poetry book was published in April of 1961. This is when the « Earth, bow to hum » about Mr. Gagarin going to space was published. By that time I was a third-year student of the Literature University. And already in May of 1961 I was presenting this poem at the Columbia University. And then I presented the same poem in June of 1961 in Sorbonne, France. The Soviet Union was proud of what Gagarin did and wanted everyone to write about it.
Young Olzhas Suleimenov np.kz
In 1995 you were assigned Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Italy. Please tell our readers about your work in Italy and how are Kazakh people associated with Italy? Do they Italians know your work in Italy ?
After the Soviet Union has collapsed, the Republic of Kazakhstan has been created with its own politics system. I was lucky to be a first Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Italy, Greece and Malta.
I have spent so much time on researching and opening new materials which were unknown by that time. I have also written a book “Language of Writing” which was published in Italy in Russian.
The Italian Society was learning more and more about Kazakhstan not because of the books but mostly due to the news. During these twenty years of cooperation, both Italy and Kazakhstan have created strong bases to stability of the relationships for the future.
It’s not a secret for anyone that you became popular in France. Why France ?
Paris, October 2013 ayimcin
Paris, October 2013 ayimcinema
In the 70th and the 80th some of my poetry books were published in French. The poems were published in both journals and in the newspapers. As it was done, it turned out to be very respectable when your poems were published in the French Press. Paris was recognized as a center of european culture.
The hot book of the 70s “Az and Me” was forbidden by the USSR Government and was taken out of all the store and libraries. Then the book came out in Russia in 2005. Some people are now writing that you are about to write the second edition of “Az and Me”. Please tell our reader whether this information is correct or not.
I would like to mention a new edition which includes the first edition of 1975 and the second edition of this year is coming soon. In the second edition I am writing about adventures of this book, which became a forbidden bestseller in the USSR. This book will be published in the beginning of 2014 by Literature Alliance.
To conclude, I recommend you watch the video made for KazSocial from the IERES event at George Washington University where Olzhas Suleimenov read one of his poems.