Rahimjon Otayev

Otauli (Rahimjon Otaev Egamberdi o'gli Otayev) (born April 3, 1949, in Chupon village, Turkestan district, Chimkent region, Kazakhstan) is an Uzbek writer, translator, publicist, and critic who has been actively involved in creative work since Uzbekistan gained independence.

Biography

Rahimjon Otayev was born in 1949 into a large Uzbek family, the son of Egamberdi Otayev and Manzura Abdujabborova. He was the third of nine children. Otayev graduated from Tashkent State University (now the National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek) in 1973. He worked as a researcher at the Institute of Language and Literature named after Alisher Navoi of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a methodologist at the Ministry of Public Education, and a literary consultant at the State Committee for Publishing of Uzbekistan.

From 1983, he worked at the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan (first as a literary consultant for literary studies and criticism, then as a senior literary consultant). In 1992, he served as the executive secretary of the Creative Union.

Rahimjon Otayev (Otauli) is the author of the following works:

• 1983 — Sky Full of Stars — philosophical essay
• 1991 — Music of the Surnay — collection of stories and novellas
• 1994 — Secret of Secrets (Turkestan Epic) — novel
• 1999 — The Envoy (Eternal Khoja Nasreddin Afandi) — novel
• 2000 — Ulus (Friend of Farabi) — novel
• 2003 — Judgment of Time — novel
• 2011 — Horse Noose — collection of stories
• 2012 — Doctrine of Literary Art — collection of articles
• 2012 — Writer's Secret — collection of translations (in Russian, Kazakh, and Karakalpak languages)
• 2013 — Divine Words — collection of articles.

He has also written numerous novellas, stories, essays, and literary-critical and journalistic articles. In particular, Otayev translated the novellas “Shorobod” by the famous Iranian writer Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh (“Yoshlik” magazine, 1988) from Russian into Uzbek. He translated Mukhtar Magauin's “Song of Life” (“Jahon Adabiyoti” magazine, 1998) and Abish Kekilbayev's “Baykators” (“Jahon Adabiyoti” magazine, 1999) from Kazakh into Uzbek. From Karakalpak, he translated Tulepbergen Kaipbergenov's essay-novel “Karakalpaknama” (1990, 1997), the essay “Letter to My Grandfather” (1993), and the drama “Nightingale of the Steppe” (“Jahon Adabiyoti” magazine, 2002).

Awards and Prizes

The writer received an award for his work published in “Sharq Yulduzi” in 1984 (for his journalistic article titled “The Most Mysterious Feeling”). In 1995, the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan presented Otayev with a cash prize for his work “Secret of Secrets (Turkestan Epic)”. In 2000, he was awarded the “Shuhrat” medal of the Republic of Uzbekistan.