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Born in an ancient city in what is now Kyrgyzstan, Hamid Ismailov is an Uzbek novelist and poet who was forced to leave his home in Tashkent when his writing brought him to the attention of government officials. Under threat of arrest he moved to London and joined the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service, where he is now Head of the Central Asian Service.

Hamid is a prolific writer of poetry and prose, and his books have been published in Uzbek, Russian, French, German, Turkish and other languages – but his work is still banned in Uzbekistan. His novel The Railway was translated into English in 2006 and praised by critics as "a work of rare beauty". Hamid speaks several languages and has translated English and Russian classics into Uzbek, and Uzbek and Persian classics into Russian.

He has been appointed ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Writer-in-Residence, May 2010.

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