The National Museum of Literature of Ukraine (Національний музей літератури України) on July 8th hosted the launch of Leyli and Majnun, an epic love poem by Azerbaijan’s greatest poet Nizami Ganjavi, published by the Kyiv-based publishing house “Yaroslaviv Val” due to the announcement of 2021 as a “Year of Nizami Ganjavi” in Azerbaijan.

    The event was attended by notable literature and science figures as well as media representatives and the general public in Ukraine. The director at the Ukrainian Institute of Oriental Studies Alexander Bogomolov, the well-known orientalist Grigory Khalimonenko, the director of the Institute of Ukrainian Language of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, professor Pavel Grichenko, the proven playwright, professor Larisa Khorolets, head of the Ukrainian Translators' Union Sergey Borshevsky, director of Yaroslavl Publishing House, the well-known poet Svetlana Koronenko, the professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Farhad Turanly, and the head of the International Cooperation Department of the Ukrainian Book Institute Darina Stepanyuk shared their views on Nizami’s epic poem. It was said that this great poetry, which serves the hymn of divine love and the realization of the dreams of a just society, is still relevant today and has gained eternal, universal interest and love. The writer Etimad Bashkechid, who heads the Department of Science, Education and Culture at the Azerbaijan State Translation Centre, noted that 2021, which coincides with the 880th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi, has been declared the 'Year of Nizami' in Azerbaijan. He said that the rich vocabulary had been loved and studied by the peoples of the world throughout history, regardless of language and religion. The well-known orientalist and professor Grigory Khalimonenko spoke about the study of Nizami's heritage in Ukraine and the impact of Azerbaijani classical literature on world poetry. Copies of the book will be distributed among public libraries, including university libraries, across Europe in the coming days.

   At the end of the event, the director of the National Museum of Literature of Ukraine Galina Soroka, a group of employees of “Yaroslavov Val” publishing house, the project’s Executive Secretary Marina Goncharuk and the editor of the book Grigory Guseinov were awarded diplomas, instituted by AzSTC, for their support in the project.

   The epic love poem has been recently published in Ukrainian by the Kyiv-based publishing house “Yaroslaviv Val”. The translator of the poem is Leonid Pervomaisky, an outstanding poet and translator from Ukraine. Agafangel Krimsky penned the foreword to the book edited by Grigory Guseinov.

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