Exiled Uzbek author Hamid Ismailov joins Nobel contender list

Exiled Uzbek writer Hamid Ismailov has been included on the list of possible contenders for the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. The roster also features internationally known authors including Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, David Grossman, J.K. Rowling and Stephen King.

Ismailov writes in Uzbek and Russian, and his works have been translated into English, Turkish, German and French. In 2019, he received the EBRD Literature Prize for his novel "The Devils' Dance." His book "We Computers" has been shortlisted for the 2026 EBRD Literature Prize.

The poet, novelist and journalist was born on May 5, 1954, in Tokmok, in Kyrgyzstan's Frunze (now Chui) province, to a family of Uzbek ethnicity. Ismailov graduated from a military communications school and later studied at several faculties of Tashkent State University, including biology, law and management.

Ismailov left Uzbekistan in 1992 and has lived in London ever since. In 2006, his novel "The Railway" was translated into English by the noted translator Robert Chandler and published in London. His poems have been translated into German by Ingeborg Baldauf and Sigrid Kleinmichel.

Ismailov's books were banned in Uzbekistan under the late President Islam Karimov, and international literary outlets and his publishers say they remain banned today. He left the country in 1992 after authorities accused him of "unacceptable democratic tendencies."

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced in Stockholm on Thursday, Oct. 8. The winner will receive 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million). The award ceremony will be held on Dec. 10.

Last year's prize went to Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai.