Mammed Aslan is one of the most distinguished poets of contemporary Azerbaijan, as well as being a journalist and broadcaster. He speaks Turkish and Russian and writes only in Azerbaijani. Born in 1939 in the town of Lachin in the region of Kelbajar, in 1962 he graduated in History from the Faculty of Azerbaijan language and literature at the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute. He has written around 70 books of poetry, translations and essays: including: Даг үреги [Dag yuregi– ‘The Heart of the Mountain’],1971; Өмрүн яры яшында [Omrun yari yashinda– ‘On Half a Life’], 1975; Çevre Çevre Nur [Chevre chevre nur– ‘The full light of the surroundings’],1995; and Seçilmiş Әsәrlәr [Sechilmish Eserler– ‘Selected Poems’], 2005. His many prizes include: Azәrbaycan Respublikasının Әmәkdar İncәsәnәt Xadimi [Azerbaijan Respublikasinin Emekdar Inchesanat Hadimi– ‘Azerbaijan Republic Award for Distinction in the Arts’], 1998; and “Şöhrәt” ордени [Shohrat ordeni – ‘The Medal of Fame’], 2000. From 1962 to 1965, Mammed Aslan worked in Kelbajar as a teacher of Azerbaijan language and literature, and from 1965 to 1970 as deputy chief editor for the district newspaper Йенилик [Yenilik – ‘Novelty’]. He became a member of the USSR Journalists’ Association in 1977 and the USSR Writers’ Association in 1981. In 1970, he moved to Baku and from then until 2008 he worked for various newspapers and programmes on Azerbaijani State TV and radio, for example as chief editor of the Экран-Эфир [Ekran-Efir – ‘Screen and Broadcast’] programme, and as programmer for Дәрәдән-Tәпәдән [Dereden-Tepeden –‘About Everything’].
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