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This year, famous Turkmen writer Khemra Shirov will turn 75 years old. A 28-volume collection of his works was published for the anniversary. The new edition is already available in Ashgabat libraries. It includes 3 novels, about 30 stories, more than 300 short stories, about 100 plays, as well as verses, poems, works for children, film scripts, and journalistic materials. Two volumes contain works published in Russian in different years. And two more volumes include Shirov's articles in Turkmen, Russian and English, as well as articles about him written by other authors.

And all of the writer's works, before leaving the printing press, were written with a sharpened simple pencil. Researchers of Khemra Shirov's work know that in the age of computers and high technology, he writes exclusively with a pencil and exclusively on paper. This habit has remained with him since childhood. At his age, Khemra Shirov is full of energy, strength and creative ideas.

— Interesting thoughts do not need to be looked for, they literally surround us. Life itself is a source of creative ideas, - Khemra Shirov says. I have dedicated my whole life to literature, and I am grateful to fate for such a generous gift, the opportunity to express my thoughts on paper, to share them with others.

Khemra Shirov began to write poetry at the age of 10. Of course, in the large rural family of the Shirovs, where there were about ten children, the adults did not particularly welcome spending time with books and writing poetry. But children's publications of those years were happy to publish the bright, full of enthusiasm and humor poems of the young poet. And over time, Khemra Shirov became a rural celebrity, and his parents changed their anger to mercy and even began to support his hobby.

One day, the editorial board of a children's newspaper asked its regular author to send them a photo to publish along with his poems. A stir ensued. In the distant village of Beshir, finding a professional photographer was a real quest. There were two schools, a post office, one medical center and a store for the entire village. There was no gas pipeline, but there was electricity, no running water, but there were wells, no television sets, but there was a radio, there were no ballpoint pens at school, but there were pencils. And the fact that the sausage that stood on the shelves in the store was edible was learned from the "advanced" villagers who had visited the city. In general, 14-year-old Khemra went to the regional center and took his first photo in his life, which the newspaper "Mydam Tayar" published next to his poems.

The poems of the boy from the distant Turkmen village of Beshir were published in children's magazines and newspapers and spread throughout the country. Officials from the district came to him, a village boy. And then he grew up and ended up in Ashgabat. Here he found himself among people of a creative circle. The first books began to be published.

A contemporary of Nury Khalmamedov, Chary Nurymov, Kurbannazar Ezizov, Kerim Gurbannepesov, Durdy Bayramov and others who have entered the glorious history of the country, Khemra Shirov is already a living legend himself. His works have been translated and published in Russia, Belarus, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Iran...

The main threads in his works are themes of peace and friendship, patriotism, love for the Motherland, for family, for nature. These are, of course, important and eternal themes. But sometimes it seems that it is already difficult to say something new in these thematic areas, but Khemra Shirov's unusual approach attracts the attention of readers every time. Over the long years of literary activity, the author has developed his own unique style, which is easily recognizable. Bright imagination, images, sharp phrases and a sense of humor, ease of presentation, talent of a storyteller, unusual and unexpected plot twists, as well as the richness of the Turkmen language - all this is the hallmark of Khemra Shirov. And this is not to mention the fact that he was the first in Turkmenistan to master the poetic avant-garde. His figured poems, acrostics, verse-grams and much more are even studied in schools and philology departments. Khemra Shirov's neo-poetry was also noted and recognized as an original creative direction at the world exhibition in Germany.

A separate area of Shirov's creativity is his collaboration with Turkmen composers. Operas, musical dramas, songs and radio plays, musicals, operas and children's operas created jointly with Rejep Rejepov, Dangatar Khydyrov, Jeren Kurbanklycheva, Ashir Abdullaev, Bayram Khudainazarov... are broadcast on radio and television, delighting music listeners.

You can find all the literary delights, writing experiments, as well as the fruits of musical collaborations of Khemra Shirov in his 28-volume edition.

And finally, today the writer, although preparing for the anniversary, enjoying the warm summer days, is still armed with a sharpened pencil. After all, 28 is a number that you really want to round up to 30.

ORIENT

Photo: orient.tm