Episode 27: Journalist & novelist Hamid Ismailov reminds us why we keep our day jobs

Marginally | a podcast about writing, work, and friendship

On today's episode, BBC journalist and prolific novelist Hamid Ismailov shares his inspirational but practical worldview relating to why he keeps his day job as a journalist (for the stories) and how he structures his writing life. He also tells us how he engages with the many literary traditions that he comes into contact with in his globe-trotting life - Russia, Central Asia, London and many others.

Hamid is the Editor of the Central Asia service at the BBC World Service, and he is the author of numerous books in Russian and Uzbek, which have been translated into English and many other languages. His most recent book is The Devils’ Dance. One of his first books to receive widespread acclaim in English is The Railway, which has an untraditional, folkloric structure and many fantastic characters. Since then, in English he has published several books, including The Dead Lake, about the area of Kazakhstan where nuclear testing had occurred previously, an elegy about Moscow called The Underground, and A Poet and Bin Laden, and many more books and artistic projects that have not been tranlsated. He was formerly the BBC’s Writer in Residence, and during that time he wrote many lovely blog posts.

We really enjoyed our conversation with him and we think you will, too.

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Theme music is "It's Time" by Scaricá Ricascá