Otkir Rahmat

Otkir Rahmat (family name Rahmatov) was born on 15 March 1948 in the village of Uzun in the Toyloq district of the Samarkand region. He studied at the philology faculty of Samarkand State University and at the Tashkent State Law Institute.

His first poem was printed around 1966. He began his working life in the press and then served in government bodies; from the first days of independence until 1999 he held responsible posts in the Office of the President of Uzbekistan.

He later edited the newspapers “Qishloq hayoti” (“Village Life”) and “Hayot” (“Life”). He is now editor-in-chief of the newspapers “Xalq soʻzi” and “Narodnoye slovo”.

More than ten collections of his poetry have been published, among them “Irmoq” (“Tributary”), “Sogʻinch” (“Longing”, 1991), “Jilgʻa” (“Little Stream”, 1992), “Rayhon hidi” (“Scent of Basil”), “Shukrona” (“Gratitude”), “Koʻzim qorachugʻi” (“Pupil of My Eye”, 1998), “Oy yogʻdusi” (“Moonlight”), “Ey, umri aziz…” (2003), “Xayol ifori” (2008), “Yurakdagi qush”, “Xoksor maysa” and the selected works “Dilchiroq”.

He received the Shuhrat medal in 1998, the honorary title Honoured Journalist of Uzbekistan and the Order “Mehnat shuhrati”. He is a laureate of the international Cholpon Prize and a member of the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan.