The Karimov Foundation has realized a very special project: the publication of “Days Gone By”, an English translation of one of Uzbekistan’s best-loved novels by well-known author Abdulla Qadiri, the Foundation said.
“Days Gone By” (“O’tkan kunlar”) is a seminal work that saw the beginning of the Uzbek school of realism.
Translated by Carol Ermakova MA, a British graduate in Russian Literature and qualified translator with over 30 published literary translations, and edited by Julie Wickenden, this deluxe hardback edition is published by respected French publishing house Nouveau Monde Editions and includes specially-commissioned illustrations by acclaimed Uzbek artist Bobur Ismailov which capture the atmosphere of this historical novel.
Although well-loved in Uzbekistan, Qadiri’s works are not well known abroad, and that is what prompted the Foundation to instigate both the English translation and a new deluxe Uzbek publication in the Latin alphabet which is now more accessible to young Uzbeks both at home and abroad.
“Abdulla Qadiri describes those days in such detail, so skilfully and exquisitely conveying each nuance of the time, place and mores of the day and bringing the characters to life so vividly, that this piece was destined to withstand the trials of time, so that future generations can read about their distant ancestors’ way of life,” said the Chair of the Karimov Foundation, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, in her message on the occasion of the publication of the novel’s English translation.