INTERVIEW

Sultan Akimovich is a writer, playwright. People’s Writer of the Kyrgyz Republic (2011). Laureate of the CIS Interstate Prize. He’s known as an acclaimed playwright and theater director. Author of more than two dozen plays. Performances based on his plays have repeatedly won victories, incl. Grand Prix, at theater festivals in Germany, Tatarstan, Uzbekistan, Tehran, etc.
In 2000 he was invited to the French Theater Arts Center. In 2002, he was awarded a personal invitation by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and took part in the celebrations of Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee at Buckingham Palace.

According to the results of 2007, BBC radio station (Great Britain) included Sultan Raev’s play “The Last Testament” in the rating anthology “Seven Wonders – Seven Best Plays in the World”.
Laureate of the State Prize of the CIS
Laureate of the State Prize named after Toktogul
Laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kyrgyzstan – Laureate of the T. Abdumomunov Prize
Winner of the “Genghis Khan” gold medal

OCA: Tell us about yourself and your creative activity?
SR: You know the most difficult part for me to introduce myself. First of all, as a writer and playwright. Yes, I am the author of more than ten books and plays. My works have been translated into several languages of the world, including English. Each work of the writer is like a newborn child, it is a kind of revelation, insight, understanding of the world …
My novels such as “Kara”, “Flood” have attracted a huge number of readers not only in my homeland, but also abroad. Why do readers who do not have a clue about our culture, life, psychology and national colour, read with such surprise? What’s the secret? The secret is that people understand human destinies, we are different but at the same we have different fates even though we love, suffer, experience the same way. We are united by common human emotions. Literature provides food for thought as a person to remain human.

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?
SR: Eurasianism is a new approach of the 21st century, which brings together human unity. The world is changing, as well as human relations those stereotypes of thinking that have separated us for a long time are being destroyed. We should not be united by misfortune, we should be united first of all by our minds. Eurasia should not be a political space, it should be a place where anyone can bring new ideas of the values of mankind. Eurasianism is a completely new discourse, the paradigm of a renewed world.

OCA: Name your favorite artists
SR: I want to mention those great masters of English culture and literature such as Jeffrey Chaucer, poet and artist William Blake, writers Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, composer Edward Elgar, actor Richard Burton, as well as world culture legends William Shakespeare and Charlie Chaplin! Thanks to the great English language in the world there is mutual understanding and world peace.

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?
SR: In 2016, my novel “Kara” was presented in London. This is the most remarkable event in my creative life. I met with my readers at the Cambridge University, where the great Winston Churchill spoke. With great success, my book was presented, thanks to the support of the Eurasian Creative Guild.
OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how did it affect your creativity ?
SR: The Eurasian Creative Guild is a platform of creative people of East and West. The guild is a bridge of literature and culture.
Thanks to the Eurasian Creative Guild, I discovered new horizons and I got new acquaintances. The guild is aimed to popularize the work of writers in the European countries and it gave me the opportunity to expand the literary geography of my works.

OCA: Do you have any personal project that you would like to talk about?
SR: My projects are my works. And I consider it premature to disclose literary plans.

OCA: In which projects have you participated and in which do you plan to take part?
SR: I was a participant in the first literary festival of the Eurasian Creative Guild, which was held in Bishkek in 2011. Also I am the owner of the Grand Prix of the international literary competition in Stockholm. In 2016, Sweden, I was awarded the Heinrich Senkevich Literary Prize, a Nobel Prize laureate.

OCA: What would you advise to the members of the Guild who just started their career?
SR: I want to tell writers and poets that the Eurasian Creative Guild helped me to open the literary world, and it will certainly help you. It is an honour to be a member of the Guild!