The famous Turkmen writer, poet and playwright Hemra Shirov has written more than 70 books. They are different in genre and volume. There are thick ones, which have more than 600 book pages. But there are also books with only 16 pages. Despite the volume, all the books are very, very interesting. Adults and children read them with great pleasure. Hemra Shirov's creative style is unusual, fascinating, with cheerful humor, he always strives for novelty.
During his fruitful creative life, he wrote more than 300 stories, 3 novels, 14 novellas, several books of poems and verses. And all this for an adult reader. But at the same time, he is considered a good children's writer. For children, he also wrote many poems and verses, stories and fairy tales, 12 novellas, and several dramas. Hemra Shirov is seriously engaged in graphic poetry.

Hemra Shirov's books were illustrated by various artists, such as Sh. Akmuradov, A. Orazov, T. Kadyrov, T. Ordinskaya, V. Moiseenko, V. Seitmedov, G. Orazmuradov and other famous graphic designers.

But I would like to tell you more about one designer of H. Shirov’s books. Timur Soltanmuradov is a famous book illustrator of Turkmenistan. With his bright, cheerful drawings, he illustrated 22 books by H. Shirov: “Saýlanan eserler” (“The chosen one”), “Maýmyna öwrülen oglanjyk” (How a boy became a monkey), “Daljygan at” (The driven horse), “Jadygöýüň ýolkasy” (The witch tree), “Pul toplaýan pişik” (The piggy bank cat), “Söýgä sygyn” (Bow to love), “Edebi tilsimler” (Literary experiments), “Janly öý” (Living house), “Güjügiň düýşi” (Puppy’s dream), “Çigit satýan pişijek” (The cat who sells seeds), “Tilkiniň dükany” (Fox shop), “Samsyk” jojuk” (Silly pig), “Döwli erteki” (Tale of the maidens), “Aýy dostlugy” (Bear friendship), “100 hekaýa” (One hundred stories), “Dogduk depe” (Native land), “Sunflower” (Günebakar), “ Uçýan haly” (Carpet - airplane), “Hüwiniň hekaýatlary” (Owl stories), “Ýaňyltmaçlar” (Tongue Twisters), “Tapmaçalar” (Riddles), “Itleriň durmuşy” (A dog’s life).

Such fruitful collaboration can be explained by the fact that their creative styles are very similar - cheerful, unusual, sometimes even absurd, abstract in nature.

Hemra Shirov gratefully emphasizes that when designing the book, Timur Soltanmuradov does not repeat its semantic outline, but always strives for the theme in his own way, developing and expanding the author’s idea.

The readers liked it very much. That is why the publishers of H. Shirov's books always trusted Timur Soltanmuradov with the design.

Thus, their creative friendship grew into a strong human friendship.

Timur Soltanmuradov created a beautiful watercolor portrait of H. Shirov for his main poetry book “Saýlanan eserler” (Selected Works) published by Magaryf in 1992.

For this 384-page book of the poet, T. Soltanmuradov created 160 large illustrations, and also designed the cover, endpapers and ornaments. This is a huge work. And the artist also worked with all his heart on the design of other books by H. Shirov, noting that the writer's works are very interesting, and he enjoys designing his books.
For the book by H. Shirov “Maýmyna öwrülen oglanjyk” (How a boy became a monkey) 1990, published by “Magarif”, the artist created a friendly caricature - a portrait of the poet in the form of a cook who cooks delicious poems, verses and fairy tales in the oven of poetry.

T. Soltanmuradov also designed the book of unusual poems by H. Shirov “Edebi tilsimler” (Literary experiments), 1997, published by “Turkmenistan”. This is a book of graphic poetry or visual poems by the poet. The artist came up with a tiny but very interesting sketch for this book, in which one book extends a hand to another book, helping it to rise up. This design corresponds to the spirit and style of the unusual poems.

We wish the famous writer and the wonderful artist to continue their strong creative friendship.