Bakhytzhan Musakhanuli Kanapyanov (, Baqytjan Musahanūly Qanapiianov; ; born October 4, 1951) is a Kazakhstani poet, writer, publisher, translator. Member of the Russian and the Kazakh PEN clubs, an honorary professor at the Shakarima University (Semipalatinsk) and an academician of the Crimean Literary Academy (Simferopol, Crimea). He is an academic of journalism in Kazakhstan.

Early life

Kanapyanov was born on October 4, 1951, in the town of Kokshetau in a teacher's family. He went to school in the village of Sirimbet, where the family estate of the scholar and historian Chokan Valikhanov (1835–1865), who is related to the poet's ancestors, was located. After his initial education, Kanapyanov became a metallurgical engineer. He then completed higher courses for directors and screenwriters in Moscow in the class of Emil Lotianu, and then higher literary courses at the Association of Writers of the USSR at the seminars of Alexander Mezhirov. Kanapyanov worked as a research engineer at the Institute of Metallurgy of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, and also as a screenwriter, director and editor in the film studios "Kazakhfilm" and "Mosfilm", produced in Kazakhstan. In 1971 he met Olzhas Suleimanov, which influenced the further fate of the young poet.

Literature works

He published his introductory poems in 1975 in the magazine "Space/Prostor", then he published poetry and poems in periodicals in many countries around the world. He is the author of more than thirty books of poetry and prose, which have been printed by Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Ukraine, the United States, Great Britain, Malaysia, Poland, France, Mongolia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Turkey. Kanapyanov writes in Kazakh and Russian and is widely recognised for multicultural approach. He 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 ct. Among Kazakh poets translated and adopted by Kanapyanov are Abay Qunanbayuli, Jambyl Jabayev, Kenen Azerbayev, Shakarim Qudayberdiuli, Magzhan Zhumabayev. He is the author of the idea of holding the World Poetry Day, which was heard for the first time in 1996 in Almaty, at the poetry evening of Andrey Voznesenskiy and Bela Ahmadulina. His books were translated in more than 20 languages, including English, Finnish, Georgian, German, Korean, Polish, Malay, Yakut, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Belarusian and Ukrainian.

Notable titles

Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov is well-known as:

Poetry collections

Prose collections

Translation works

Filmography

Public activism

In 1984 Kanapyanov 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 (Silk Road. 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. Kanapyanov was an active member of Nuclear disarmament movement and together with Olzhas Suleimenov was one of the founders of ″Nevada-Semei″ movement which ultimate aim was to close the nuclear test centers in Semipalatinsk and Nevada. He was a volunteers in Chernobyl trying to raise worldwide awareness of the tragedy – Chernobyl disaster. These efforts resulted in a book of verses ″Stork on the Pripyat River″ later translated in many languages.

Awards

Kanapyanov is a laureate of many international literary awards, including ″Alash″, ″Tarlan″, International Poetry Competition ″Hope the Golden Lyre″ (New York City, US, 2004), Anton Delvig Sverdlovsk Award (2013), MO Auez Award of the Kazakh PEN Club (2014). His poetic works have been translated into many languages in the world, and have entered the literary anthologies of countries near and far abroad. An Honored Activist of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2011), Honored Worker of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1998), winner of the popular vote ″El Tulgasi″ – ″Name of the Fatherland″ in the nomination ″Culture and Art″ (2012). He was awarded the orders ″Parasat″, ″Dostik″ 2nd degree ″For contribution to culture″ of the International Committee of Peace and Harmony (Moscow), medals of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. Winner of the State Award of the Republic of Kazakhstan named of Abay for 2020.

Literature