Famous UK poets Sean O’Brien and John Burnside were awarded the II Class Order of Dostyk (Friendship). The orders were awarded by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the poets’ significant contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as for their contribution to promoting the legacy of the great Kazakh poet, philosopher, and enlightener Abai Kunanbaiuly on the international stage, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
Both poets were directly involved in the preparation and publication by the Cambridge University Press of the first English-language complete works of Abai. Within the project implemented in partnership with Kazakhstan’s National Bureau of Translations (NBT), the famous British poet Professor O’Brien worked on the translation of Abai’s poetry, while the translation of Words of Edification was done by the famous Scottish writer and poet Professor Burnside. The English-language edition was part of a wider project by NBT to publish the works of the legendary Kazakh poet in ten languages worldwide.
At the awarding ceremony, Erlan Idrissov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the UK, noted the symbolism of presenting the high awards in the year of the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s Independence and highlighted the significant contribution of Professors Burnside and O’Brien to promoting the heritage of the great Abai among the global English-speaking audiences, as well as to the mutual rapprochement of the two nations’ cultures.
Professor Sean O’Brien is a British poet, critic, playwright, broadcaster, novelist, editor, and former Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. His numerous awards include the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Poetry Prize, and the Somerset Maugham Award. He has written for The Guardian, The Independent and The Times.
Professor John Burnside is a Scottish poet and writer, Professor of English at the University of St Andrews. He has published a number of collections of poetry and prose and is the author of scripts for television series and radio plays. He is the winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Poetry Prize, the O. Henry Award, and many others. Translations of his works have been published in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, China, Indonesia, Croatia, Brazil, and Argentina.
