Annakuly Nurmammedov is a novelist, poet, journalist and former diplomat. Born in Turkmenistan in 1959, he graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at the University of St. Petersburg in 1982. From then until 1991, while working as a journalist for the weekly cultural paper Эдебият ве Сунгат [Edebiyat ve Sungat – Literature and Art], he set up and coordinated the alternative group Яш Публицистиң Мекдеби [Yash Publitsistin Mekdebi – School of Young Journalists]. In 1991-1992, he studied in Moscow and New Delhi on a programme organised by the USSR Foreign Ministry’s Academy of Diplomacy. Then, in 1992-2003, as a diplomat for the newly independent Turkmenistan, he was posted to Ankara as Minister-Counsellor for his country’s first-ever Embassy to Turkey. He has also studied screenwriting at the University of Oxford. Annakuly Nurmammedov has published seven novels: Табыт [Tabyt – The Coffin], 1987; Әлем-Җахан [Alem-Zhahan – Sky and Earth], 1989; Чархы-пелек [Charhy-pelek – Wheel of Fortune], 1990; Нухуң Тупаны [Nuhun Tupany – The Deluge], 1990; Oguz Ýurdy [The Land Of Oghuz], 1999; Uly Göç [The Great Migration], 2001; and Çöldäki Jennet [Heaven in the Desert], 2005. He has also edited and translated several major Turkmen classics into Turkish, including: Göroğlu Türkmen Halk Destanı [Görogly, a Turkmen National Epic], 8 vols., 1996; and Gorkut Ata Türkmen Halk Destanı [Gorkut Ata, a Turkmen National Epic ], 1999. Other works include: Adatdan Daşary Mehanik Robotlar Hakda Kitap [A Book about Extraordinary Mechanical Robots] research, 2000; Baýburt Serpaýy/Bayburt Armağanı [Gift from Bayburt -], a study of the Turkmen poet Gurbannazar Ezizov, with translation of his poems into Turkish, 2004; and Петербургская Девушка-лань [Peterburgskaya Devushka-Lan – The Doe of St. Petersburg], stories, poems, letters and articles, 2006. His works in each of these genres have been translated into Turkish, Russian and English, and several critical books have been devoted to his work. Awards he has received for literature and culture include: Йылың иң говы повести [Yilin in gowy powesti – Best Novel of the Year], 1988; Türk Dünyasına Hizmet Ödülü [Service to the Turkic World Award], 1996; Magtymguly Halkara Baýragy [International Mahtumkulu Prize], 1997; İpek Yolu Ödülü [the Silk Road Prize], 1998; Türkmenistan Döwletiniň İň Gowy Roman Baýragy [the Turkmenistan State Best Novel Prize], 2000; and Avrasya Sanat Edebiyat Yıldızı Ödülü [Star of Eurasian Art and Literature Award], 2002. Annakuly Nurmammedov has lived in Oxford, UK, since 2003. He is married, with three children.
