End of September and early October has always been a special time for me since 2018 — the season of my independent Writer and Artist Residency Program in Uzbekistan.
This year, I decided to pause the program due to many reasons. Yet, I feel proud and grateful: over the years we welcomed more than 100 poets, writers, translators, musicians, librarians, and cultural workers from five continents. They discovered my motherland, met audiences in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khorezm, and across the Ferghana Valley — and left as almost experts of Uzbekistan. Together we learned, created, and celebrated life.
The seed of this dream was planted in 2004 in Iowa, USA, when I became the first writer-in-residence from Uzbekistan. The Iowa International Writing Program inspired me to bring the same spirit of exchange and creativity home, where it blossomed into the first-ever residency of its kind in my country.
This season, instead of hosting, I will try to post one photo every day from our past programs — to remember the journeys we shared, the bridges we built, and the joy of being together.
