Book presentation: “Mystical Forest: Collected Poems and Short Stories of Dungan Ethnographer Ali Dzhon”

Born in Shor-Tyube, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR, in 1951, Dungan ethnographer and creative writer Ali Dzhon is widely regarded as the pre-eminent writer on the material and spiritual culture and history of the Dungan people, the Sinophone Muslims of Central Asia. Mystical Forest makes available for the first time in English a significant collection of Dzhon’s poems and short stories, which he penned in Russian over a span of more than half a century, from 1969 to 2021, bridging the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. In these rich literary works, Dzhon expresses his thoughts about the world around him, ponders the fate of his people and the meaning of life, and provides finely nuanced descriptions of his feelings about love, nature, and those around him.

Speaker: Kenneth J. Yin teaches modern languages, literatures, and linguistics at the City University of New York. His scholarly work focuses on the Dungan literature and culture of Central Asia. Another area of interest for him is Siberian Tungus literatures and cultures, primarily those of the Udege and Nanai peoples.

Discussant: Prof. Mark Bender specializes in traditional performance and performance-connected literature of China, including local Han and ethnic minority cultures.

Moderator: Aitolkyn Kourmanova is a multimedia and creative editor of multilingual platforms. She has produced and directed analytical content on Eurasia and Central Asia in Russian, English, and Uzbek languages. She has a solid background in academic publishing, digital media creation, cultural and educational exchange programs, having worked with various international entities and the NGO sector. Her areas of expertise include strategic recommendations for political economy as well as business and country risk assessments on Central Asia.