Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov

Who is Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov?

Bakhytzhan Musakhanuli Kanapyanov is a Kazakhstani poet and writer.

Kanapyanov is a poet and a lyricist. He was born in Kokshetau, a descendant of Genghis Khan. He was a winner of the Kazakhstan's boxing cup for two consecutive years. Liquidator of Chernobyl disaster. Member of the Russian and the Kazakh PEN clubs.

Kanapyanov writes in Kazakh and Russian and is widely recognised for multicultural approach. Kanapyanov collected folk songs from across Kazakhstan and translated them into Russian, often revising and adopting them. One of the most famous translation – is the Kazakh national epic song Kyz-Zhibek. His translations into Russian include Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, French poet Paul Valéry and others.

Among Kazakh poets translated and adopted by Bakhytzhan are Abay Qunanbayuli, Jambyl Jabayev, Kenen Azerbayev, Shakarim Qudayberdiuli, Magjan Jumabayev and others.

In 1984 he became the editor-in-chief of one of the largest publishing house in Kazakhstan Zhalyn. He kept this position until the year 1991 when the USSR, communist party and all censoring mechanisms collapsed. This allowed him to founder first independent publishing house in Kazakhstan – Zhibek Zholy. Now Zhibek Zholy is famous for its ongoing support to young authors and especially poets in Kazakhstan, Russia and worldwide. Zhibek Zholy publishes a lot on education, folklore, philosophy, linguistics and history studies.