ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA
TALKING WITH POET
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV
SEPTEMBER 2022
RAHIM
KARIM KARIMOV:
Answering your question, I cannot say directly that I come from a literary
environment in the literal sense. That is, my parents were not a poet and a
poetess. And in my family, I don’t remember anyone from my ancestors who could
be engaged in literary creativity. My grandfather, whose name was
Mirzakarimjon, was a deeply religious person. Educated by the mullah of his
time. People still say about him that by reading a prayer from the Koran he
could make water flow in a ditch in the opposite direction. However, my father,
whose name was Zokirzhon, sometimes tried to write poetry. Mother - Zarifakhon
from early childhood was fond of Uzbek folklore, continuously read Uzbek folk
epics, dastans, legends and fairy tales. Such as "Alpomish",
"Yodgor", "Gurugli", "Shohsanam and Garib", the
poems of the great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi "Farhod and Shirin",
"Layli and Mazhnun", as well as legends and tales of the East, such
as "Thousand and one night", "Tales of the peoples of the
world" and others. All these books were given to her as a dowry by her
mother Khosiyathon for her wedding. Kingdom of heaven to them. But if we think
about all this in a more global sense, then I can proudly say that I am, yes,
from the literary environment in which Alisher Navoi, Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur
and others were born, grew up and became the great poets of the world. If I
think even more globally, I dare to assure you that I am from that literary
environment of the East, which gave the world such great poets, philosophers,
thinkers of the Universe - Jaloliddin Rumi and Omar Khayyam...
ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What inspired you to start writing?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
The first thing that inspired me, or rather forced me to write poetry, was
while watching the TV program “In the Animal World” of the Central Television
of the then USSR. I was then 11 years old. Seeing for the first time the scene
of a lion attacking a defenceless doe, my heart could not stand this injustice
in which the strong preyed on the weak. At this time, for the first time, a
feeling of protest against injustice arose in my heart. And I couldn't find my
place. My heart was ready to burst with pain. I immediately ran out into the
yard, and stared sharply at the blue sky, silently asking the question: “God,
what is this? Is it possible so? But the answer was his own hot tears. Then for
the first time I realized that the world in which I found myself against my
will, in which Evil is able to punish Good, I felt uneasy. Perhaps this was my
very first childhood philosophy about the Universe. My second outburst of the
soul was the drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in which I saw
the same tragic scene of a predatory lion with a harmless gazelle? My heart
kept asking the same question: “For what?”, “Why?”, “Why?”. Then I finally
decided to become a fighter for justice, for peace, a supporter of the
oppressed, their defender. I gave myself a word to devote my life to protecting
the Earth, the Planet from evil individuals, no matter in what way they inhabit
the Earth ... So I became the protector of the weak from the strong, the good
from the evil, the truthful from the untruthful ...
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: What writers did you enjoy reading as a
child?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
As a child, I loved to read the same books that I mentioned above, which my
mother loved to read in childhood and adolescence. Later, in addition to Uzbek
literature, I became interested in reading Russian literature. Then foreign.
Until now, I love to read Pushkin, Lermontov, Yesenin, Blok, Shakespeare,
Dante, Pablo Neruda, Rabindranath Tagore... In my student years I became very
interested in Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman literature. Throughout my life, I
have been attracted by French, Indian, Chinese, Japanese literature, which are
distinguished by their wisdom and depth. I am intoxicated by the masterpieces
of literature and other peoples of the world.
ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA:
What literary
pilgrimages have you gone on?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
I never yearned for any literary pilgrimage. Although it wouldn't bother me. On
the contrary, it would enrich as a craftsman of the word, a servant of
thinking. The very land on which I was born, that is, the ancient city of Osh,
has long been considered the second Mecca, in the center of which is the sacred
mountain Takhti-Sulaimon, the Throne of Solomon. According to ancient beliefs,
the prophet Solomon himself and his couple visited here in ancient times. In
addition, the hero of the great Kyrgyz epic "Manas" Bogatyr Manas,
the great commander Amir Temur, the great commander and poet Zahiriddin
Muhammad Babur and many others once stepped on this land. Later, Allah granted
me another literary pilgrimage. I entered the Literary Institute named after
A.M. Gorky, where many well-known writers of the world, classics of Russian
literature, and literature of the peoples of the former USSR studied. I was
lucky to study for five years in the historic home of one of the classics of
Russian literature, the writer Alexander Herzen, and our institute was named
after another classic of Russian literature, A.M. Gorky. During my five years
of study in Moscow, I managed to visit almost all the literary and cultural
places of the former capital of the USSR. I visited the museums of A.S.
Pushkin, A.P. Chekhov, I.S. Turgenev, A.M. Gorky, V.V. Mayakovsky, Sergei
Yesenin and others. As a participant of the Republican seminar of young writers
of Uzbekistan, I visited literary sights, museums, monuments of the classics of
Uzbek literature in Tashkent ...
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: How did you get started as a poet?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
I went to this for a very long time, meaningfully and seriously. All the time
it seemed like a fateful mission sent to me by the Almighty himself. If the
first impetus for my becoming a poet was the above-mentioned incident with a
lion and gazelles while watching the program “In the Animal World”, then later
poetry took possession of me day and night, and life itself awarded me the
title of “poet”. I accepted it as a commitment from God. As the mission of my
stay on Earth. The meaning of life. Illness and healing. Pain and joy. Tears
and laughter. Defeat and victory. Love and hate...By the way, about love. The
second reason I became a poet was my love at an early age. When I was only 13
years old. In the process of growing up, growing up by being enchanted by the
beauty of the opposite sex, a misfortune befell me - the misfortune of love.
Unfortunately, unanswered. I don't know what it was? Maybe this was another
test of the Creator to meld me into a poet: I fell in love from head to toe,
from the hair of my head to the tips of my toenails. I burned in the flame of
love like a phoenix. I was hurt and sweet in the fire of this love, from which
I almost lost my mind. I had to bite the floor, the earth from the lack of that
ill-fated love, in the grip of passion. But in the course of all this walking
through the torments, I never for a moment forgot about the main purpose of my
life - about serving Her Majesty Justice, to which I still serve. Although I
had to renounce everything - from relatives, friends, like-minded people, in
exchange for whom I even managed to acquire enemies.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: How do your poems develop? Please guide us
through the stages of a poem!
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
My poems awaken inside me like a volcano, no matter where it comes from.
Unexpectedly, unexpectedly. Sometimes I feel myself as a keyboard, pressing
which someone writes something. It seems to me that I am only fulfilling the
function of an executor of someone's order from above. As if someone from
heaven is raising me with my own hands. This cleanses my soul. It's like I'm
revising my heart. I teach it like a teacher teaches a student. I free myself
from negative emotions, erase my feelings from dirt. In a word, I write poetry
and pray it. I turn to God. Poems in me develop as waves develop on the sea. I
try to teach them the way a rider tries to teach wild horses to ride. At the
conclusion of the process, I still manage to take the reins of my feelings into
my own hands and calm down. This is how the sequence of lines is born, which is
called a poem. How does it start? The thought suddenly hits the skull. I take a
pen and notebook or sit down at the computer. Slowly I begin to write with a
pen or type letters. The first line appears. Then the second, the third... My
"I" governs my brain and heart. I watch the flow of blood in the
vessels. Eyes, hands, breath obey me. It's like I'm composing music on the
piano. I write down every single note. I play at the same time. More precisely,
I read silently. I sing, silently. I follow the sound of the emerging song at
the same time. Inside yourself. Deep in the heart and mind. Blood and breath.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: What, in your opinion, are the most
important elements of good writing?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: In my
opinion, in the course of writing an ideal letter, all elements should be
important. There should be no secondary elements in the process of creating a
verse. Every detail, from the size of the verse, its intonation, down to the
rhyming of the lines, must be of the highest level. For this, a writing person
will need both dexterity, and vigilance, and sensitivity, and sensuality, and,
of course, God's talent. Behind all this there should be a pure, beautiful
soul. And without a beautiful soul, without a beautiful, golden heart, it is
hardly possible to create a masterpiece.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: What is the most difficult part about
writing for you?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
For me, the most difficult thing in writing is to be recognized all over the
world and not recognized in my homeland, or to be recognized by the peoples of
the world and not recognized by my own people.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: How did you manage to fit writing in with
other demands on your time? Are you good at managing your time?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
I don't understand what you want to ask me. What device are you talking about?
If by this you mean my publishing activity, then I can answer you this way. As
I told you above, I do not have the opportunity to publish my works in
publications and publishing houses operating in the region - most of them are
private. Therefore, it remains for me to deal with the publication of my works
on foreign literary portals and publishing houses. Yes, I manage my time well.
Otherwise, I would not have managed to do as much as I have already done. Every
minute counts for me. I value seconds. I manage to achieve all this by reducing
the time of my night's sleep. Sometimes you have to shorten the time for
breakfast, lunch and dinner. I spend very little time on my personal life. In a
word, from morning till night, I burrow in my cauldron of creativity. In own
juice...
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: Who
are your favourite living poets?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
I like all the poets of our time. For, each of them has his own world, his own
worldview, attitude. Everyone has their own style, their own voice, their own
unique handwriting. Therefore, I appreciate each of them. Even those who are
negatively opposed to me. Because I look at people as God's creations. Through
each of them, the Creator wants to tell us something. That is, He rules the
world with the help of us humans. It is we who set the world in motion with our
participation. Everything that will happen to us tomorrow depends on us. It is
not for nothing that they say that man proposes, God disposes… This means that
in order for God to ideally dispose, we must accordingly assume.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: How
did you first get published?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
My poems were first published in 1978 in Russian in the large-circulation
newspaper "The Voice of the Textile Worker" of the Osh Production
Cotton Association named after the 50th anniversary of October, where I then
worked as a repairman.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: Have you ever had a work rejected?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
Yes, sometimes they are rejected. Unfortunately.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: Can you
give any advice to someone wanting to write and publish poetry?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
Of course, I can. Be honest and fair. First of all. Keep thoughts, feelings,
heart, hands clean. It is necessary to renounce all negative human qualities,
such as duplicity, sycophancy, lies, envy, intrigue. Before writing poetry,
first of all, you need to cleanse your heart of sins in order to maintain a
connection with heaven. Otherwise, the angels of inspiration will leave you.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: What is the imagery or mood in your poem?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
My images are the most simple and vital. And the mood corresponding to reality.
As an indicator, as a litmus test, I reflect the state of reality. I avoid
chaotic words, fashionable rhymes. For me, simplicity comes first. Simplicity
of words, simplicity of thought. I do not seek to adjust the world to my mood.
Most likely, I adapt to the mood of society - I state about its negative and
positive features. I try to be a mirror for society.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: What's the worst advice you hear authors
give writers?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
Giving advice to authors is difficult. In my practice, I try not to give advice
to anyone. Because every person is different. Only he knows what he lives and
what he breathes. Poetry is a means of self-expression. And how can you tell a
person what he wants to say. Probably, the author just needs to be extremely
sincere in order to interest the reader.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: What
does success mean to you? What is the definition of success?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
Success for me is, first of all, the recognition of readers. If your attitude,
your point of view, your position corresponds to the position of the reader, if
you were able to lure him with your philosophy, with your writing, then you
have succeeded. I think that success is not measured by titles and awards won.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: How do you handle literary criticism?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
I have a negative attitude towards literary criticism. Especially if it's
custom. There are critics who write positive reviews for not-quite-talented
writers if powerful people ask them to. Or vice versa, the works of worthy
writers are subjected to sharp criticism. In a word, critics should always be
objective. They have no moral right to distort literature. Of course, there are
self-respecting critics. They are able to objectively assess the current
literary process.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: Are you
working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers
about?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV:
We are currently working on a global, I would say planetary scale project. We
want to identify the worthiest poets and writers of the world. To date,
hundreds of writers have registered as nominees for our modest worldwide award.
In the future, we intend to announce a long list of all the nominees for the
award. A little later we will announce a short list of finalists, then winners.
This will happen on New Year's Eve. By doing this, we want to morally support
the writers of the world, to stimulate their work. There are a lot of writers
in the world. But there are very few awards and prizes. Therefore, we decided
to fill this gap to some extent. For now, I am not writing anything new. True,
I compose new poems every day, and post them on the Internet for the judgment
of my readers and friends.
ANCA MIHAELA
BRUMA: If you
had to describe yourself as a writer in three words, what would they be?
RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: I am a
simple, modest poet, writer and translator who has devoted his whole life to
Literature.
RAHIM KARIM (Karimov) - Uzbek-Russian-Kyrgyz Soviet poet, writer, publicist,
translator (b. 1960, Osh, Kyrgyzstan). Graduated from the Moscow Literary
Institute named after A.M. Gorky (1986, seminar of Yegor Isaev, Vladimir
Milkov). Member of the National Union of Writers, the Union of Journalists of
the Kyrgyz Republic. Official representative of the International Federation of
Russian-speaking Writers (London-Budapest) in Kyrgyzstan. Co-chairman of the
Literary Council of the Eurasian Peoples Assembly (Russia). Member of the
Writers' Union of Russia. Laureate of the International Competition
"Golden Stool", AUCA, Kyrgyzstan. Laureate of the international prize
"Many languages - one world", AUCA, Kyrgyzstan. Winner of the Aga
Khan Foundation International Children's Book Competition, 2011. Laureate of
the Republican Literary Prizes named after Moldo Niyaz, Egemberdi Ermatov. Honorary
Doctor of Philosophy (Morocco). Academician of the Academy "Turon",
Uzbekistan. Laureate of the International Prize
named after Peter Bogdani (Brussels-Pristina). Member of the
International Association of Writers (Belgium-Pristina). Laureate of the
International Peace Prize named after Swami Vivekananda (India). Ambassador of
the World Children's Movement in Central Asia (Nigeria). Member of the World
Haiku Association (Japan). Laureate of the Gold Prize (Ethiopia). Laureate of
the prize of the International Union of English-speaking Writers (India).
"Outstanding Public Person of the World" (Morocco). "Author of
the Year - 2019" (Netherlands). "Author of the Year - 2019"
(Montenegro). Laureate of the International Dardanica Prize (North Macedonia).
"Author of the Year - 2019" (USA). Representative of the radio
project "Unite the World with Poems" in Kyrgyzstan (Mexico). Icon of
World Literature (Mexico-India). Ambassador of World Literature, Oman. World
Literature Ambassador, World Literary Academy, Romania. Official translator of
the international literary magazine ITACHA (Spain). Holder of the International
Gold Certificate of Recognition (Morocco). Recipient of the Honorary Diploma of
Poets of the World "Isla Negra", Chile. Winner of the PENTASI World
Poets Festival, Beijing, 2019. Certificate of the Rosas Orquideas Poeticas
World Competition (Colombia). Laureate of the International Prize "City of
Galateo - Antonio de Ferrari", Rome, Italy, 2020 and 2021. Awarded with
the "Diploma for the Promotion of Literature at the World Level"
(Guinness Book of Records) by the World Academy of Literature, the World
Association of Poets (Romania). Awarded the Order of Shakespeare, Oman, 2020.
Laureate of the National Poet Competition of the Prince of Muzaka Literary and
Artistic Association, Albania, 2020. Gujarat, India. Appointed National
President of the World Union of Latin American Writers (UHE) in Kyrgyzstan,
World Director of Publications and Translation of the World Union of Latin
American Writers (UHE). Awarded the medal of Kairat Parman-Duissenov, Oman,
World Union of Nations Writers, Kazakhstan, Certificate "Poet of the Asian
Continent", World Union of Latin American Writers (UHE), 2020. Was
Chairman of the jury of the World Poet Competition, World League of Poets, Nigeria,
2020, Chairman jury of the World Poet Competition, Philippines, 2020. Winner of
the Global Poet Certificate, Texas, USA. Chairman of the Jury of the World Poet
Competition, World League of Poets, Nigeria, 2020. Certificate of Chief Judge
and Leading Representative for International Affairs, World League of Poets,
Nigeria, 2020. Awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for his contribution to
the "Literary and Cultural Art", Cairo, Egypt. Certificate of
Recognition, Lebanon. Certificate of Recognition, Texas, USA. Member of the
World Movement of Poets, Chile. Winner of the “Friend” Cup, Egypt. Received the
World Literary Prize. Cesar Vallejo, Peru, 2020. Winner of the
"International Prize for the Best Poets and Translators of 2020",
International Poetry Translation and Research Center (IPTRC), PRC, Greek
Academy of Arts and Literature. Member of the editorial board of the website
"New Literature of Kyrgyzstan". Laureate of the Sahitto International
Literary Prize - 2021, Bangladesh. Honorary Global Advisor (FOWCAAS), Singapore
in Kyrgyzstan. Participant of the III World Poetry Conference, India, 2021.
Awarded the International Prize of the Union of Latin American Writers
"Golden Eagle - 2021", Peru. Laureate of the "Star of World
Poetry" prize, Academy of Literature, Romania, 2021. Laureate of the
International Prize of the Sahitya Academy (2021). Ambassador of the World
Peace Institute in Kyrgyzstan, 2021. Winner of the International Silver Shield
Prize, Union of Latin American Writers (UHE), Peru, 2021. Awarded a Certificate
of Recognition, Texas, USA, 2021. Awarded with an Honorary Diploma for Merit.
Latin American Academy of Modern Literature, Academic Society of Ibero-American
Historians, 2022, Mexico. Prize Velardiniello - 2022, Academician and honoris
causa, Naples, Italy. Rabindranath Tagore International Literary Prize, India,
2022. Repeated participant of young writers of Uzbekistan. Author of the
national bestseller "Kamila", Book Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic,
2005. Winner of the second prize at the International Book Forum "Open
Central Asian Book Forum and Literary Festival - 2012" (Great Britain).
Nominated for the All-Russian literary prize "Poet of the Year - 2013,
-2014, -2015", "Heritage-2015, -2016" S. Yesenin (2016). He was
awarded the silver medal of the Eurasian literary festival LiFFt in the
category "Eurasian poet", 2017, the medal "Kyrgyz tili" of
the State Commission on the State Language under the President of the Kyrgyz
Republic. Awarded with certificates of honor of the Osh regional state
administration, 1988, the mayor's office of the city of Osh, 1990. Author of
about 60 books of original, translated poetry and prose. Works, books have been
published and published in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Hungary,
Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Canada, Mongolia, Romania,
Greece, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, India, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Albania,
Belgium, Pakistan, Republic of China, People's Republic of China, Japan, Iraq,
Mexico, Venezuela, Poland, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Spain, France, USA, Colombia, Germany, Costa Rica,
Turkey, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kosovo,
Vietnam, Israel, Sweden, Philippines, Seychelles, Peru, Algeria, Egypt,
Lebanon, Indonesia, Scotland, Singapore, Portugal and other countries of the
world in Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Russian , Tajik, English, Ukrainian, French, Spanish,
Romanian, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Dutch, German, Polish, Greek,
Persian, Pashtun, Dari, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Macedonian Skom, Serbian,
Albanian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Slovak, Malay, Azerbaijani, Turkish,
Nepali, Hebrew, Swedish, Scottish, Lezgin, Indonesian, Portugal and other
languages of the world. He translated poetry and prose into Uzbek, Russian,
Kyrgyz and English languages of authors from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia,
Tajikistan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Saudi
Arabia, Romania, Russia, Poland, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Serbia, Iran, Denmark, USA, Slovakia, Mexico, Malaysia, Iraq, Italy,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Turkey, Israel, Philippines, etc. Author of over 20 popular
patriotic songs in Uzbek, Russian, Kyrgyz languages, written together with
composers from Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Germany. He worked
as editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Voice of Tekstilshchik" (Osh),
deputy editor-in-chief of the city newspaper "Vecherny Osh", own
correspondent of the newspaper "Khalk Suzi" of the Supreme Council of
Uzbekistan in Kyrgyzstan, editor-in-chief of the regional newspaper
"Ak-Buura", executive secretary of the international literary art
almanac "Osh", a leading specialist of the Osh Regional Department of
Culture, editor-translator of the AKIpress Information and Analytical Bureau,
editor-in-chief of the Central Asian news service CAnews.
ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: Educator, lecturer, performance poet, eclectic
thinker, mentor with staunch multi-cultural mindset and entrepreneurial
attitude, Anca Mihaela Bruma considers herself a global citizen, having lived
in four continents. Her eclecticism can be seen in her intertwined studies, she
pursued: a Bachelor of Arts (Romania) and a Master of Business Administration
(Australia). The author labels her own writings as being “mystically sensual”,
a tool and path for women to claim their own inner feminine powers. She uses
poetics as a form of literary education, self-discovery and social.
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