The Confrontation

This is the latest collection of short works from the renowned award-winning, Kazakh writer, playwright and storyteller, Dulat Issabekov - 'The Confrontation' is a group of short stories and a play - 'Bonapartes Wedding'.

In these tales he weaves the humour, tragedy and history of his beloved homeland. The tales poke fun of the former Soviet era yet also look back fondly with clear descriptions and lyrical prose. There is a fondness for past times but his characters also take us on journeys to the present day as well, highlighting the ludicrous striving for modernity through comical deceit and subterfuge and there are the unattainable relationships between people trying to please someone else or even just themselves.

Dulat Issabekov is the master storyteller, drawing you into the world that creeps out from his pages and transports you to the countryside Dacha or the bustle of a soviet city, the clothing, food, cultures and traditions all become part of his written tapestry, like a Babushka shawl.

Each of the stories has a special meaning and, although he denies they are autobiographical, memories that can only have been written by someone who was there.

They are the kind of stories that can be read over and over again, each time with new details and swirls of description beckoning the reader to go in further.

- Gareth Stamp

Chairman Eurasian Creative Guild