Kazakh poet Duken Massimkhanuly has been honored with the prestigious “Golden Pen” award by the International Poets Pen Club. The award ceremony took place on December 7, 2025, at the iconic Sydney Opera House in Australia.
During his acceptance speech, Massimkhanuly expressed sincere gratitude to the organizers and guests, while proudly representing Kazakhstan. He emphasized the deep-rooted literary traditions of his homeland, highlighting that poetry has always held a special and respected place in Kazakh culture as the highest form of artistic expression.
The poet also addressed modern challenges facing literature, particularly the rapid development of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. He noted that these changes have made it increasingly difficult to distinguish between authentic human creativity and machine-generated content. Despite this, Massimkhanuly expressed confidence that humanity will find ways to preserve the authenticity and value of true art.
Reflecting on the nature of poetry, he referred to great Kazakh literary figures such as Abai Kunanbayuly and Birzhan Sal Kozhaguly. He stressed that poetic talent is both a gift and a responsibility. He also echoed the idea of Russian poet Nikolai Nekrasov, stating that while becoming a poet is a choice, being a responsible citizen is a duty.
Massimkhanuly highlighted the important social role of poets, describing them as voices that reflect the struggles, hopes, and values of society. He also underlined the significance of cultural dialogue and literature in strengthening mutual understanding between nations, especially in times of global uncertainty.
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First of all, I would like to extend my heartfelt greetings to the evaluators of the International Poets Pen Club and all the guests attending today's gala evening!
I am a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a country located in Central Asia!
The frends in the hall, some of you may know, some may not... My native people, the Kazakh nation, has its own unique, very rich national culture. Even the Kazakh people's views on Art, Culture, and Literature are different! For example, there is a Kazakh proverb that says, "The most wonderful and most important of arts is the art of words." That is, the Kazakh people put the art of speech before and above all other areas of art and culture. That is why the place and role of a poet and writer in Kazakh society has always been special throughout history. Perhaps that is why, in the past, there were many Kazakh youth who dreamed of becoming poets and writers. However, becoming a poet and writer was not a bird of happiness that landed on everyone's head. Because in the Kazakh people's understanding, the art of speech is considered a phenomenon that has both a meaning and an owner. Therefore, the proportion of "labor" and "talent" to become a Kazakh writer should be 50/50. In particular, there is no way for to the "plaintiff" who wants to become a "poet and writer" by beating his head against a mountain or a stone. However, it is no secret that the rapid penetration of the Internet into human life over the past quarter century, and the subsequent entry into force of AI, has to some extent undermined creativity created with pure human reason. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between swans and white geese, between gold and silver. I believe that humanity will find a way to solve this problem!
Despite the fact that the sacred "field of poetry" has been overgrown with weeds, talented poets have never abandoned that sacred "field of poetry". Therefore talents, even those who are very difficult in social status, or rich in wealth and career, have never put down their pen for a moment! What is the secret of this?!
The great Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayuly defined this question: "The art of speech is also a kind of disease," and another talented Kazakh poet-composer Birzhan Kozhagulovich answered: "It is impossible to restrain the art that God has given you." So, the art of speech is a quality that comes to a creative person with the blood of his father and the milk of his mother, in modern language, it is transmitted through genes!
And let's say that only a creative person who is gifted with the art of speech through genes can take up the pen... Then why does he write poetry (or prose)?! This is also an unresolved question among world literary critics and scientists studying the psychology of creativity!
In this regard, I fully support the position of the famous Russian poet N. Nekrasov: “To be a poet is your choice, and to be a citizen is your duty”! Because only when a poet-writer understands this, he fully understands his duty as a HUMAN, as a CITIZEN, holds his human conscience high and tries to be worthy of the name POET. Therefore, being a POET is not a toy! Another great and talented poet of the Kazakh people, Tolegen Aibergenov, described the difficulty of being a poet as follows:
Do you think that it is easy to live as a poet,
in practice, being a poet means being at the mouth of all the wounds of society!
Moreover, it is not enough for a poet to just love his nation, grieve for the grief of his native people, and take stock of its loss!
After all, the Earth is the common home of humanity! Although fate has created different races, ethnic groups and languages, all people have many common values and a common language. For example, all people laugh when they are happy, cry when they are sad, frown when they are angry... and everyone takes care of the younger generation and respects their parents. Humanity loves a peaceful life and their homeland. Every writer who holds a pen in his hand, every person who considers himself a conscious citizen should know this principle, and every person on earth, every nation should understand each other. From this point of view, the role and driving force of cultural exchange and literary creativity is very important. After all, literature is the inner feeling of the poet, the voice of the nation. For this reason, people living in different countries often understand each other through literature. Poetry written in a sharp and impeccable style plays a special role in literature. Therefore, as the great Kazakh poet Abai said, no matter what country a poet comes from, he should be able to love not only the talented, but also all people as brothers! So, how can we make this happen? Poetry can help us in this matter, because the true essence of poetry is simplicity and elegance. Poetry is a way of expressing ideas and emotions, so the poets of humanity, POETRY, can unite us. Especially today, humanity is living in an unprecedentedly difficult situation. How do we respond to conflicts that threaten our common home - the Earth, to ecological disasters, and to a difficult and unstable era? As a Kazakh poet and your friends, I would like to say that our mission is to return to the world, to all humanity, to its carefree life, to its kindness and love for each other, like all flowers blooming in spring, through our poetic works!
Although my previous poetry was dedicated to this purpose, in the coming days I want to write a whole book for this purpose and sooner or later present it to all humanity.
In conclusion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the International Poets Club, its leadership, and the club committee for awarding the Kazakh poet the world's most prestigious poetry award - the "Golden Pen" award!!! I wish all of you in the hall good health and creative success!!!" - he said.
In conclusion, the poet announced his plans to dedicate a future book to themes of peace, unity, and human compassion. He reaffirmed his belief that poetry remains a powerful force capable of bringing people together and restoring harmony in the world.
The “Golden Pen” award is considered one of the most prestigious honors in international literary circles, recognizing outstanding contributions to poetry and cultural exchange.
