|
Above: Azad Aliyev, translator of four of Henrik Ibsen's plays, now available on AZERI.org. For the first time, Azerbaijanis have the opportunity to read Ibsen's plays in Azeri Latin on the Web. Four of his works are now available in PDF compressed format at AZERI.org. They include: "Hedda Gabler", "A Doll's House", "The Wild Duck" and "Ghosts". The four plays were translated from Russian to Azeri by Azad Aliyev. Readers can simply download the files and print them out and read them. Acrobat Reader can be downloaded at ACROBAT.com. The book "Ibsen's Selected Dramas" was originally published in Azeri in 2002 in a project sponsored by the Norwegian Ibsen Committee and published in Baku by the Science and Life Publication House (362 pages). The Book section of AZERI.org was launched in 2003. Ibsen's works comprise the second foreign book to be added. Antoine St. Exupery's "Little Prince" (Balaja Shahzada) translated from French by Aziz Gozalsoy and Yagut Gurbanova was the first. Five books by Azerbaijani authors are also available-four by the late Aziza Jafarzade (see this issue) and Sabir Ahmadli's "Blood Transfusion Station". The Web site-AZERI.org-was created in 2000 by Azerbaijan International magazine to promote the Azeri language and literature. The founders-Betty Blair and Pirouz Khanlou-were deeply concerned that when Azerbaijan Republic gained its independence and opted for the Latin alphabet to replace Cyrillic, so few great works of literature-Azerbaijani as well as international-have been made available in the new alphabet because of the enormous costs involved in printing books. As a result Azerbaijani youth are being deprived of access to some of the best thinkers and ideas in the world. Thus, the idea came to create a Web site to make some of this literature available free to educators and individual readers. AZERI.org is now the largest resource available on the Web for Azerbaijani literature. New works are being added on a weekly basis. In addition to the seven full-length books, there are more than 60 Azerbaijani short stories by some of the most famous contemporary writers, including Anar, Rustam and Magsud Ibrahimbeyov, Yusif Samadoghlu and others. Many short stories also have English translation. Nearly 120 poems by Vagif Samadoghlu are available in both Azeri and English translation. Lyrics to more than 75 songs in Azeri and nearly 90 articles from Azerbaijan International magazine in Azeri may also be downloaded. AZERI.org has a section called "Learn Azeri" which includes 15 articles from the column, "Sociolinguistically Speaking", plus 110 proverbs in Azeri and English translation. In addition, more than 25 articles related to literary themes have been prepared in the Arabic-modified script for Azerbaijanis who are from Iran. Betty Blair, Editor of Azerbaijan International, directs the staff that works on AZERI.org. It currently includes Arzu Aghayeva, Gulnar Aydamirova, Aynura Huseinova, Ulviyya Mammadova, Narges Abadi and Sakina Isgandarova. Govhar Yagublu recently volunteered to type one of the most famous works by her grandfather, Sabir Ahmadli, entitled "Blood Transfusion Station," which has just been added as well. Back to Index AI 11.3 (Autumn 2003) AI Home | Search | Magazine Choice | Topics | AI Store | Contact us Other Web sites created by Azerbaijan International AZgallery.org | AZERI.org | HAJIBEYOV.com |
