Night and Day: A Novel

About Abdulhamid Sulaymon o'g'li Cho'lpon

Abdulhamid Sulaymon ogli Cholpon (1897-1938) was the preeminent poet and litterateur of 1920s and 1930s Uzbekistan. His early 1920s associations with so-called nationalist circles his pessimistic poetry and his criticism of Soviet power made him the target of a barrage of denunciations in the latter half of the decade. After escaping to Moscow during the first round of purges in Central Asia he returned to Uzbekistan in 1934 and entered the first half of the incomplete dilogy of novels Night and Day into a contest for Uzbek socialist prose works. The novel did not win any of the prizes but the jury recommended for publication and it was printed in 1936. The following year the book was the subject of yet further denunciations and Cholpon was arrested. After a relatively acquiescent interrogationCholpon knew his death was imminenthe was convicted and executed on October 4 1938.Christopher Fort holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan and an MA in Russian Area Studies from The Ohio State University. He is also the translator of Uzbek author Isajon Sultons The Eternal Wanderer.