‘Days of Eurasian Literature’ , the first event of its kind to be organised by the Eurasian Creative Guild and Hertfordshire Press in partnership with Orzu Arts and Pro Arts, was spread across three London venues at Yunus Emre, the Turkish Cultural Centre; Fulham Library and Rossotrudnichestvo.
Over the course of 3 days, the event comprised 10 sessions attracting participants from 8 countries, and included presentations of the following books published within the framework of the ECG Book Series:
”Island of Poetry” by Raim Farkhadi (Uzbekistan)
”The Art of Mature Love” by Madina Demirbash (Kyrgyzstan-Turkey)
”Nostalgia” by Saule Doszhan (Kazakhstan)
”Belarusian Whales” by Anastasia Kuzmicheva (Belarus)
”Destiny” by Kuanysh Zhienbai (Kazakhstan)
”Zhurektegi iman guli” by Gulzada Nietkalieva (Kazakhstan)
”40 Temples” by Marina Mikhailovskaya (Kazakhstan)
”Fights without Rules” by Peter Berman (Kazakhstan)
”How to love yourself?” by Svetlana Yudina (Kazakhstan)
”The Door to the Tale” by Denis Kuvaev (France-Russia)
”From Siberia to Freedom” by Murat Ualee (Kazakhstan)
”Music between the lines” by Dilyara Lindsay (Kazakhstan)
”One of You” by Lenar Shayeh (Tatarstan-Russia)
”The book which has never been written before” by Marsel Salimov (Bashkortostan-Russia)
”Kөк Түрік Көк Бөрі” by Temirkhan Medetbek (Kazakhstan)
”YIYAZHOL YMYR” by Naziken Alpamyskyzy (Kazakhstan)
”True Stories” by Nazym Saparova (Kazakhstan)
”The Lines of Life” by Antonina Shuster (Kazakhstan)
The event also promoted work by other authors : ‘Outstanding Leaders of the 20th Century with Historical Roots in Central Asia’ by Nurym Taibek; ‘Feast instead of War’, a play in 3 parts by Nadezhda Kolyshkina; Kazbek Kashkabayev, a writer from St. Petersburg and Ekaterina Udachina.
In addition to literature, ECG mounted an exhibitions by Kazakh photographer Eugenia Berman and artist Dauren Kasteev, whose paintings were inspired by the writing of Hans Christian Andersen. Eugene Berman is the daughter of the famous writer and screenwriter Peter Berman and Dauren Kasteev, the grandson of classical Kazakh painter Abilkhan Kasteev. Both exhibitions were well received and provided a unique opportunity for British audiences to sample contemporary Kazakh art. Performance art also featured in ‘Voices of Asia’; an evening of poetry and prose dedicated to the Day of the Century at Yunus Emre, including a presentation of ‘Kashmir Song’ by Sharaf Rashidov, a leading light in Uzbek culture. ‘Days of Eurasian Literature’ concluded with a Gala concert and award ceremony at Pasha; London’s finest restaurant of Central Asian cuisine.