“A Street in Cairo” by Ashraf Aboul-Yazid published in the Azerbaijani Language

Azerbaijani author Tarana Aliyeva Mohamed wrote that she has never been to Egypt, which is famous for its ancient history and famous pyramids, as she was not destined to be like an ordinary tourist in this country, but it is strange that she has had events related to Egypt several times in her life. Maybe it's because of that country's extraordinary attraction, she explained.

It was exactly her who was instructed to accompany 96 Egyptian representatives at the International Festival of Students and Youth held in Moscow in 1985. Her first acquaintance with Egyptian literature started from there. Famous Egyptian writer Samir Abdul-Baqi gifted his books to Tarana at one of the events. She noted that Samir Abdul-Baqi writes mainly for children. The short stories and fairy tales he wrote for the young readers attracted her attention and she translated them into Azerbaijani with the consent of the writer and had them published in the magazine “Pigeon”. When the writer's brother Gamal was in Azerbaijan, she sent those magazines to Egypt.

After many years, the well-known Russian-Azerbaijani writer, poet and translator Eldar Akhadov presented the works of Egyptian writer and poet Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, again Tarana has been connected with Egypt. So, at the presentation of Eldar’s translation of Ashraf’s book into Russian made her to personally meet the Egyptian author and had a great conversation with him in the Egyptian dialect that she hasn’t used for a long time and promised that she will translate his poems “A Street in Cairo” into Azerbaijani language.

Although she did this job with great enthusiasm, it didn't come to an end soon. During translation, she had to use Eldar Akhadov ‘s version in Russian and copies of the poems’ texts in English and Arabic, as well, which she collected in the event hosted by the Russian House in Baku, Azerbaijan. As a result, she recently sent the electronic version of the book to the author who received the book with deep gratitude and promised that it will be published next year in Egypt, in the Silk Road Literature Series, established in 2016.

Tarana began her literary activity in translation in 1978, when she transferred examples of children’s literature written in Arabic. Over the years she published her stories and articles on various topics were published in magazines and periodicals published in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani writer has five books, namely (Kiss the Eyes and Leave), (Spring in Autumn), (Confession), (The Net), and (Mystery). She translated the novel “The Captive Woman” by Mikhush Abdullah from Azerbaijani to Russian, as well as Translated “The Postman for Eva” by Alexandra Azima Reinhardt from Russian to Azerbaijani.

Ashraf Aboul-Yazid is a novelist, poet, journalist, and writer of travel literature. He has worked in cultural journalism for more than three decades. He is a member of the Egyptian Writers Union, President of the Asian Journalists Association, and Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic “Asia N”; Next News Network, published in Seoul in Korean, English and Arabic, and editor-in-chief of the Silk Road Literature Series. He is the national coordinator of the World Poetry Movement for Egypt, and has participated in international cultural conferences and festivals in South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, UAE, Tatarstan, Italy, Turkey, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Sultanate of Oman, Togo, Nigeria, Russia, Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela.

Azerbaijani tongue will be added to the languages to which Ashraf’s books have been translated, whether they are poetry books or novels, after Korean, English, Spanish, Russian, Sindhi, Persian, Turkish, German, Serbian, and Malayalam.

Ashraf won the Cultural Personality of the Year Shield, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation, 2012, Manhae Grand Prize in Literature (South Korea), 2014, the Arab Journalism Award in Culture (United Arab Emirates), 2015, the Creativity Shield of Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Embassy, Kuwait, 2015, the Medal of the General Authority of Culture Palaces, Ministry of Culture, Egypt, 2017, the Gold Medal, Eurasia Literary Festival (LIFFT), Istanbul, 2021, the Medal of the Most Outstanding Patrons of Literature, Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), Ibadan, Nigeria, 2022, Sawiris Prize in Children’s Literature, Cairo, Egypt, 2023, and the International Federation Medal for Popular Diplomacy, Kazakhstan, 2022, as well as its Commemorative Medal for the 800th Anniversary of Sultan Baybars, Kazakhstan, 2023.