Suleiman Ilamanov was born in the Lamma aul of the Karabekaul etrap of the Lebap velayat and is very proud of this fact, because the poet-warrior Seyitnazar Seydi was born in this aul at one time. As a boy, he was not much different from his peers from the rural outback, except for his passion for poetry and literature. His first poems, without thinking about their imperfection, he boldly sent to the editorial office of the regional newspaper, and then to the central newspapers. The teenager caught sight of the beautiful view of his native village, and he admired his homeland, which gave him the village, friends, and endless fields. And poems - simple, but at the same time saturated with patriotism - found a place on the pages of newspapers.

After leaving school, Suleiman decided to enter the Faculty of Philology of the Turkmen State University. That year, as luck would have it, there was an extremely huge competition, in addition, there were many very talented guys among the applicants. And yet he passed the competition. Surely, the publication of his poems helped, which simply could not fail to make a certain impression on the selection committee.

By nature, Suleiman is a workaholic, therefore, as a student, immediately after classes at the university, he spent a long time in libraries, reading European and Eastern literature, including the Turkmen classics.

Possessing a phenomenal memory, Suleiman easily managed to assimilate the works of world literature. Teachers saw an excellent student as a future promising philologist, teacher or poet. He, as before, wrote patriotic poems, and they were published in central newspapers. However, these were not the same tests of the pen of a rural boy, it was felt that studying at a prestigious university and social circle had a huge influence on the student.

His fellow students were Komek Kuliev, a well-known prose writer and playwright today, and Guljahan Shakhberdiyeva, an employee of the Ashgabat newspaper.

Suleiman graduated with honors from the university. He was offered to stay at the department, but his native land attracted him, and he chose a teacher. At first it was a rural school of the Khalach etrap of the Lebap velayat, where he taught the Turkmen language and literature, then a railway vocational school in the city of Chardzhou (now Turkmenabat), combining work at the Pedagogical Institute named after Seyitnazar Seydi. Wherever Suleiman worked, he continued to write poetry and spend all his free time in libraries.

Homeland

"If you rise high,

Sing the Motherland.

If everything is good with you,

Sing the Motherland.

You will become the happiest

Sing the Motherland.

Even if you find yourself far away

Sing the Motherland.

The meeting with the teacher, candidate of philological sciences Khalyl Kulyev, who advised him to work in the editorial office, became fateful. Suleiman was hired as a correspondent for the newspaper Yash Communist (now Vatan), eventually moved to the editorial office of Halk Sesi (Voice of the People) and finally became an employee of the newspaper Edebiyat ve sungat, where he works without small for 30 years.

Khalyl Kulyev, from his beloved teacher who taught the history of literature, became a loyal and sympathetic friend to Suleiman. I must say that Khalyl Kulyev was an excellent poet, his lyrics were often compared to Yesenin's. However, he had one feature - he treated his work too demanding, and therefore wrote little, but beautifully. Once his favorite student, and then his friend was Kurbannazar Ezizov, now this place was taken by Suleiman Ilamanov. While working in the editorial office of Edebiyat ve Sungat, Suleiman found Kurbannazar Ezizov, but, unfortunately, did not manage to make friends with him due to the early departure of the outstanding poet.

With the recommendation of the poets-translators Mammad Seyidov, Annaberdi Agabaev and Annaly Berdyev, Suleiman began to translate works of European classics, as well as poets of contemporaries of friendly countries. In the newspaper "Edebiyat ve sungat" there was an endless edge of interesting, sometimes very complex creativity, into which he went, as they say, headlong. Today, Suleiman remembers with great love his mentors, thanks to whom he became a poet-translator.

Suleiman made it a rule to quote the poems of the great Turkmen classics Magtymguly, Mollanepes, Seydi, Andalib, Kemin every day, considering them to be his mentors too.

Suleiman Ilamanov is a poet of the era of Independence, he proudly emphasizes that this era gave him a lot to become a poet, journalist and writer. The great transformations in our country inspire him to work even more fruitfully. Suleiman's patriotic poems are included in poetry collections of contemporary authors and are often heard on radio and television. Based on his short stories, several feature films were shot by students of the Institute of Culture. On the poems of Suleiman Ilamanov "Bagtly Chagalyk", "Bagtyyar Chagalyk", "Avazanyn Kenary" songs were written for the country's children's choral groups. 

His creative credo - to keep pace with the times finds a response and recognition in society. Many times he became the winner of the Golden Age of Turkmen competition, was awarded the Gairat medal, the jubilee medal of 25 years of Independence.

To the question: "When will we see his collection of poems?", Suleiman Ilamanov promisingly answers: "I am thinking about it."

Tamara GLAZUNOVA

Photo: Yuri SHKURIN