WORLD LITERARY ATLASBOOKS WITHOUT BORDERS · 2026
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Asia · A READING GUIDE

Kazakhstan

Rollan Seisenbayev is a writer from Kazakhstan. His novel approaches the Aral Sea disaster through a fisherman and his family. Abai and Ilyas Esenberlin provide two different anchors: reflective prose and historical fiction. Mukhamet Shayakhmetov's memoir and two anthologies add memories of repression and multiple voices from contemporary literature.

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Books to begin with

An editorial selection · not ranked

Rollan Seisenbayev

The Dead Wander in the Desert

About the book

A fisherman and his son try to defend their community’s way of life as the Aral Sea faces ecological disaster.

EnglishTranslation

The Dead Wander in the Desert

Amazon Crossing · 2019

Edition source ↗

Abai Qunanbaiuly

Book of Words

About the book

Philosophical and moral reflections explore knowledge, education and responsibility within Kazakh society.

Original title: Қара сөздер

EnglishTranslation

Book of Words

El Bureau

Edition source ↗

Ilyas Esenberlin

The Nomads

About the book

A historical trilogy reconstructs Kazakh history, struggles for power and the formation of political community.

Original title: Көшпенділер

EnglishTranslation

The Nomads

The Ilyas Yesenberlin Foundation

Edition source ↗

Mukhamet Shayakhmetov

The Silent Steppe: The Story of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin

About the book

A memoir describes the destruction of nomadic life under forced Soviet collectivisation.

EnglishTranslation

The Silent Steppe: The Story of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin

Stacey International Publishers

Edition source ↗

Różni autorzy / Multiple authors

Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Prose

About the book

An anthology brings together contemporary Kazakh prose about memory, tradition and social change.

EnglishTranslation

Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Prose

Cambridge University Press

Edition source ↗

Różni autorzy / Multiple authors

Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Poetry

About the book

A poetry anthology presents varied voices in Kazakh literature in English translation.

EnglishTranslation

Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Poetry

Cambridge University Press

Edition source ↗
Edition cover: A Life at Noon — Talasbek Asemkulov
English edition

Talasbek Asemkulov

A Life at Noon

About the book

A boy learns traditional music from his father and discovers painful family and national histories.

EnglishTranslation

A Life at Noon

Slavica Publishers

Edition source ↗
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