Asqar Qosimov

Asqar Qosimov was born in 1946 in Tashkent. From 1964 to 1969 he studied at the philology faculty of Tashkent State University (today the National University of Uzbekistan). His poems began to appear in print and in anthologies while he was still a student; from his teens he also boxed and took prizes in official competitions.

After university he worked for many years as an editor at publishing houses, among them the Ghafur Ghulam Publishing House of Literature and Art. Contemporaries recall that he knew classical, modern and world literature well and that he edited, among other things, a selection of Abdulla Avloniy and a complete edition of Nasimi.

He became known as a poet in the 1970s. His first collection, “Favvora” (“The Fountain”), came out in 1974, followed by “Moviy osmon” (“Blue Sky”, 1977), “Zamin ko‘rki” (“Beauty of the Earth”, 1979), “Tolbargak” (1980) and “Ko‘nglim kabutari” (“Dove of My Heart”, 1982). His poem “Yor-yor”, written during a student cotton harvest, later became widely known when the popular singer Sherali Jo‘rayev performed it as a song.

Qosimov also wrote poetic dramas: the verse drama “Sirlar” (“Secrets”) about Prometheus, the dramatic poem “Obida” (“The Monument”) dedicated to the poet Turdi Farog‘iy, and the fantasy drama “Samo sirlari” (“Secrets of the Sky”). “Sirlar” was published as a separate book in 1985.

He was also a translator. From ancient Greek and Roman literature he rendered Euripides’ tragedy “Medea” and Aeschylus’ “The Libation Bearers” into Uzbek, and, together with Mahkam Mahmud, Apuleius’ novel “The Golden Ass”. A television play was staged from his translation of “Medea”.

Asqar Qosimov died in 1985, still a young man. His poems, dramatic poems and translations were republished in 2011 by the Tafakkur publishing house in the collection “Ey, qaro ko‘zim…”, prepared for print by his fellow student, the poet Shodmon Otabek.