Dulat Isabekov: biography, creativity, career, personal life

Dulat Isabekov is a living classic of Kazakh literature, a famous playwright. The cult writer for Kazakhstan is the “sixties”, a representative of Kazakh literature that is in demand abroad today. He understands the Russian language well, but still this writer is not Russian-speaking, but completely immersed in the element of his native, Kazakh language. His novels and stories were not only repeatedly published in Moscow and in the former Soviet republics, but also translated into German, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Czech.

Dulat Isambekov is a very comprehensive writer, he knows very well the things he writes about, knows the details. This is a proprietary writer. He writes clearly, strictly, without the excesses of oriental ornamentation. If we recall our outstanding Russian writers, then in terms of language, rigor and thoroughness, prose of Dulat Isabekov is closest to Valentin Rasputin. Dulat Isabekov believed that journalism and literature are not only different, but hostile to each other genres. Journalism serves primarily politics, while literature serves a person, an individual. But when he sits down at his desk, he discards everything, including this excitement, anger, the fury of worldly aggression, leaving behind his desk.

Biography of Dulat Isambekov

Dulat Isabekov was born on December 20 in 1942 in the Sairam district of the Chimkent region. Aldabergenov’s father Isabek died in the Great Patriotic War near Stalingrad, and Aldabergenov’s mother Kumuskul died early.

In 1966, Dulat Isabekov graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Kazakh State University named after S. M. Kirov. Member of the CPSU. After graduation, for two years he worked as a senior editor of literary and dramatic broadcasting of the Kazakh radio, in subsequent years, as the head of the essay and journalism department of the Zhuldyz magazine, and senior editor of the Zhalyn publishing house. 1980-1988 - Dulat Isabekov, chief editor of the repertoire and editorial board of the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan. In 1990-1992 - Chief Director of Kazakh Television; in 1992-1996 - Director of the Zhazushi Publishing House. Since 1998 - Director of the Kazakh Research Institute of Culture and Art History.

Writer's work

Isabekov’s work begins in the mid-60s, but in full force as a prose writer and playwright, he is revealed in the 70-80s, gaining all-Union and foreign fame. The first story "Zholda" was published in 1963. Then the story "Shoyynkulat" was published in the general collection of young writers "Tangy Shyk" in 1964, and a few years later it was included in the collective collection of stories of writers of Kazakhstan "I don’t want to say goodbye", which was published Russian language (1970). D. Isabekov is the author of collections of short stories and short stories previously published in republican periodicals: Becket (1966), Restless Days (1970), Father's House (1973), Life (1975) and picture books for children "Bitter Honey" (1969).

According to his script, the Kazakhfilm studio directed the feature film "Keep Your Star" (1975). In the theaters of the republic are D. Isabekov’s plays “Foster Days of the Rector” and “Elder Sister”. The play "Elder Sister" won the first prize at the 1977 republican competition for the best dramatic work.

There are no prototypes of the play, but the theme itself, the idea - of course, are directly related to the life of the writer. When the mother died, three boys remained in the family; the two older sisters were married, and the older brother was only in tenth grade. The older sisters forced him to marry at the age of seventeen so that all the younger brothers would not scatter around the world. And when the two sisters left, leaving a young daughter-in-law (also seventeen), the writer witnessed a conversation during which they took an oath from her: "You are the mother of these two boys. Remember this!". Then one day the elder sister’s husband came: “Listen, you have your children scattered. And you are here. We are completely hungry, all in the mud, eat whatever

When will you return home ?! "And the older sister said to him:" Do not talk! Leave and cope with our children. For me, brothers are more precious than my own children! ". Who will say this now? Where did this come from? What kind of heart does she have? When the writer remembers how she spoke, with what intonation, his tears flow. So the play about the elder sister appeared.

In 1979, the story "Waiting for Tomorrow", in 1982 "Heirs", and in 1986 - "Little Aul."

Based on Isabekov’s works, scripts were written and feature films were produced (Emerald, 1975, dir. Sh. Beisembaev), Wormwood-Grass (1986, dir. A. Ashimov), Life (1996, dir. U. Koldauova)

In 1986, the story "Confusion."

In 2014, his book Transit Passenger was published in London, and in the same place, in the capital of Great Britain, his play Transit Passenger was staged.

In the same year, the premiere of another London production was staged - "What Swans Sing About."

By 2017, two collections of his short stories and plays "Song of the Swans" in English were released.