Spring 1999 (7.1) Contributors   Anar has an extraordinary background - both his mother Nigar Rafibeyli (pages 34, 35, 53a, 53b) and father Rasul Reza (36, 55) were nationally recognized poets. Anar himself is considered one of Azerbaijan's foremost thinkers and writers. His primary genre is the short story (30) and novel. He serves as President of the Writer's Union and Member of Parliament. Anar gave us a big hand in identifying some of the best pieces written this century.   It's not an easy task to track down literary pieces that span an entire century-even if they do include some of the best works of a nation. It would have been quite impossible without the support of Leyla Gafarova, Director of Azerbaijan's National Central Library (Akhundov). She assigned staff members who tirelessly searched card catalogs, journals and books, as there still are no computers to ease the research process.   He's at his best when drawing sketches that have a political or social edge. All the political cartoons in this issue are from the creative imagination and pen of Gunduz. The few exceptions are the cartoons originally published in the journal, "Molla Nasraddin." (1906-1931). Gunduz also painted the portraits of poets Husein Javid (20) and Vurgun (56). He also has numerous illustrations in our Legends issue (AI 6.3, Autumn 1998).   Aynur Hajiyeva, 18, started studying English only three years ago at Azerbaijan's Institute of Foreign Languages, but she was our main translator for this issue, especially for the more difficult poetic works. "I'm never afraid of learning something new," says Aynur who has yet to visit a foreign country. "It was my teachers who opened a path for me to explore the great world of linguistics, now it's my responsibility to carry on.   Fazil Najafov is the creator of some of the most provocative sculptures that challenge Soviet ideology (5) (61). In 1961 he was denied his art diploma because his final project at school depicted a young oil worker leaning his tired body against a pipeline, exhausted from work. Labor was to be glorified, not shown as fatiguing and tiring. For more samples of Fazil's work, see AI 3:1, Spring 1995. Studio: (99-412) 66-71-09; Fax: 93-12-76 From Azerbaijan International (7.1) Spring 1999. © Azerbaijan International 1999. All rights reserved. Back to Index AI 7.1 (Spring 99) AI Home | Magazine Choice | Topics | Store | Contact us