Join our book club, where we each time discuss an Asian book or one with an Asian angle in an informal setting.

This time we will read Hamid Ismailov's «The Devils' Dance», winner of the EBRD Literature Prize 2019.

«The Devils' Dance» is the first major Uzbek work to be translated directly into English, published by the small publishing house Tilted Axis Press. The book tells the parallel stories of the real-life prominent Uzbek writer Abdulla Qodiriy being interrogated by the Soviet secret police, and of the 19th century Uzbek poet-queen Oyxon, married to three khans in succession. 

The Guardian writes:

The Devils’ Dance – by an author banned in Uzbekistan for twenty-seven years – brings to life the extraordinary culture of 19th century Turkestan, a world of lavish poetry recitals, brutal polo matches, and a cosmopolitan and culturally diverse Islam rarely described in western literature. Hamid Ismailov’s virtuosic prose recreates this multilingual milieu in a digressive, intricately structured novel, dense with allusion, studded with quotes and sayings, and threaded through with modern and classical poetry.

This Event is for Asia Society Members only. How to become a member?

No registration is necessary. If you have not received information about the location, please contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Suggest a Book
If you have any interesting reading recommendations, please let us know so we can consider them for our next meeting.