Uzbek poetry
A lyrical evening was had at the Embassy of Uzbekistan in London on 30 September 2021 for the launch of 12 Ghazals By Alisher Navoiy, 14 Poems By Abdulhamid Choʻlpon, a collection of poetry in translation by English Romantic poet Andrew Staniland. Organised jointly by the British-Uzbek Society and the Embassy of Uzbekistan, guests were treated to a talk, poetry reading and Q&A session with Andrew Staniland, as well as a celebratory reception.
Andrew Staniland with Uzbekistan’s Tourism Ambassador
Staniland collaborated with Uzbek translators Aidakhon Bumatova and Avazkhon Khaydarov to translate 12 ghazals (short poems of rhyming couplets) by Alisher Navoiy (15th century) and 14 poems by Abdulhamid Choʻlpon (early 20th century), two of Uzbekistan’s most celebrated poets. During the event, Staniland spoke about the two poets and the different challenges of translating their work into English, and read several poems from his new book. Among the honoured guests in attendance were Uzbek Ambassador Said Rustamov, Uzbekistan’s Tourism Ambassador to the UK, Sophie Ibbotson, and Visit Uzbekistan Magazine’s Managing Editor, Megan Eaves.
The British-Uzbek Society is an independent, non-political organisation. It was formally established in July 2002 with the aim of supporting and helping to facilitate cultural, educational and people-to-people links between the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. Find out more: uzbek.org.uk or follow on Instagram @britishuzbeksociety
Q&A with the poet
Were you inspired to write any of your own original poetry about Uzbekistan (apart from the translations)?
I had the great fortune to visit Uzbekistan for the first and only time so far in February 2020, getting home a week before Uzbekistan shut its air space and the pandemic lockdown started. That trip was enough for me to write a book of poems that I published last year, A New Diwan (h/t Alisher Navoiy), inspired by the country, as well as by my idea of Navoiy. I say ‘my idea’ because so little of his work has been translated into English.
Audience and ambassador
What special qualities about Uzbekistan drew you to work on a poetic translation book?
I was halfway through my next collection, which will also have a Central Asian element running through it, when I decided to do the translations, initially from frustration at the lack of translations of Navoiy and the poor quality of those few that are available. I decided to do some translations of Cho’lpon as well, partly to make the book more interesting for an English reader, and partly also because Cho’lpon was a poet of reform, a poet of freedom (personal as well as national, especially for women) and I wanted to shine a light on those ideals.
What inspires me personally about Uzbekistan, which I think is more relevant to my own poems than the translations, is the elegant spiritual beauty that you see, not only on the walls of madrasas and mausoleums but also in silks and ceramics, in the historical and the contemporary. It is what I aspire to in my poetry and what I relate to in my spiritual practice. Seeing it in front of me is quite something.
Did you have a favourite place or experience during your travels in Uzbekistan?
I’m going to choose two things. The best day was one driving in the desert of Khorezm, visiting a few of the ruined castles there.
And the place that touched my heart the most was the house museum of Fayzulla Khodjaev in Bukhara, which is so delicately beautiful and a great example of the wealthy elite (a merchant family in this case) valuing the local arts and crafts, with impeccable taste.
