Hamid Ismailov

Ismailov graduated from the military school on communication and later several departments of Tashkent University (Biology, Law, Management)[2]

Ismailov has published dozens of books in Uzbek, Russian, French, German, Turkish and other languages. Among them books of poetry: "Сад" (Garden) (1987), "Пустыня" (Desert) (1988); of visual poetry: "Post Faustum" (1990), "Книга Отсутстви" (1992); novels "Собрание Утончённых" (1988), Le vagabond flamboyant (1993), Hay-ibn-Yakzan (2001), Hostage to Celestial Turks (2003), "Дорога к смерти больше чем смерть" (The road to death is bigger than death) (2005), 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 1980-ies he created a fictional literary group 'Conference of Refined', consisting of successfully published and acclaimed heteronym poets, philosophers, literary critics, writers and translators[3].

In the beginning of the 1990-ies Ismailov collaborated with a French composer Michel Karsky in creating several examples of sonic or musical poetry pieces like 'Babylon eclatee' or 'Hourglass/Le pas dernier'

Ismailov's novel The Railway (Russian: Железная дорога), 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 (Russian: Алтаэр Магди).[4] Another novel, A Poet and Bin-Laden (English translation of "Дорога к смерти больше чем смерть"), translated by Andrew Bromfield, was published in September 2012.[5] His triptych of novels, "Мбобо", in English The Underground (published worldwide by Restless Book,[6] Googling for Soul, and Two Lost to Life have also been translated into English.[5] His book "The Dead Lake" (English translation of "Вундеркинд Ержан" by Andrew Bromfield) was published by Peirene Press early in 2014.[7] His novel "The Devils' Dance" was published by Tilted Axis Press in 2018. It won the EBRD Literary Prize in 2019.

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.[8] On the 31 December 2014 Hamid Ismailov announced on his Facebook and Twitter accounts that he stops his tenure which lasted 4,5 years.[9] In June 2012, Ismailov represented Uzbekistan at the Poetry Parnassus in London.

Hamid fled Uzbekistan in 1994 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.[10] His works are still banned in the country.[11] He is a vocal critic of the country's government and its poor human rights record[12] and censorship.[13]

• Brief Biography

• http://www.hamidismailov.com – Official site of Hamid Ismailov, with complete texts of selected works in Uzbek and Russian, excerpts of translated works in English and French, and a blog.
• "Conference of the Refined" Uzbek and Russian works under a variety of pseudonyms.
• On the poetics of Lorca's "Divan of Tamarit" by Hamid Ismailov. Translated into English by Natalya Khan & Saodat I. Bazarova. Transoxiana 7 – Diciembre 2003. Original Russian text at К поэтике "Дивана Тамарита" Лорки
• http://bbcworldservice.com/writerinresidence%5B%5D – BBC World Service Writer-in-Residence blog (was launched on 10 May 2010)

KOCIEJOWSKI, Marius. God's Zoo: Artists, Exiles, Londoners (Carcanet, 2014) contains a biographical chapter "A Ghostly Hum of Parallel Lines – Hamid Ismailov, Writer, and Razia Sultanova, Musician"