Kazakh Books Donated to Nobel Library in Stockholm

Fifteen books by 14 Kazakh writers have been donated to the Swedish Academy’s Nobel Library in Stockholm. Some of the books were published in English, German, Spanish, and Turkish. [caption id="attachment_59599" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Duisenali Alimakyn[/caption] The books were delivered by Kazakh poet and journalist Duisenali Alimakyn, who traveled to Stockholm at the invitation of the Swedish Academy to conduct research in its library and archives. Librarian Lars Ljungdahl accepted the publications. [caption id="attachment_59598" align="aligncenter" width="1220"] Librarian Lars Ljungdahl[/caption] Founded in 1901, the Nobel Library belongs to the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature. Its collection of approximately 200,000 volumes includes literary works from around the world, alongside research on literature and linguistics. The library is open to the public. The donated collection includes poems by Abai Kunanbayev, the 19th-century Kazakh poet and thinker; an English-language edition of Ilyas Zhansugurov’s poem Kulager; a Spanish translation of Talasbek Asemkulov’s Taltus; and a German edition of Rakhymzhan Otarbayev’s Bas. Also included are two books by Tynymbay Nurmagambetov, Roza Mukanova’s The Angel of Karaul, Zhusipbek Korgasbek’s The Wolf in Cologne, and Tulpardyn Songy Tuyagy by Orazkhan Akhmet, a Kazakh writer living in China. Ulykbek Esdaulet’s poetry collection Yntyk Zar and a Turkish edition of Yerbol Alshynbay’s My Father’s Shadow Before Sunset are among the other works. The donation also includes Saule Doszhan’s English-language collection The Tragedy of a Bastard and Kanat Abilkair’s The Man Without a Name in Aghyrap. Abai Aimagambet’s The Boy Who Waited for the Waves and Alimakyn’s own book, Amerika Ashqan Qazaqtar, complete the selection. The latter examines references to Kazakhs in American newspapers and archival documents. Mukanova’s work, originally published as Mäñgilik Bala Beine (The Eternal Child), explores the consequences of Soviet nuclear testing at the Semipalatinsk test site. Its English-language edition was presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2026. According to Alimakyn’s account of the meeting, Ljungdahl thanked him for bringing the books to Stockholm and said that German-language publications were particularly popular with the library’s readers. He expressed interest in reading some of the donated works himself. The Nobel Library catalogs foreign-language publications in Libris, Sweden’s national library catalog, and participates in an interlibrary loan system. This allows readers and researchers to find its books and request them through other libraries.