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Tuvan Shaman Galsan Tschinag

Dear Friends of Tuva,

I hope you’ll be interested to hear that the novel, The Blue Sky, by Galsan Tschinag, will be published in the US in October of 2006. The book has been a sensation in Europe, where it has been translated into several languages. The novel is about a young boy who grows up in the traditional ways of his Tuvan people, in a yurt, raising a herd of sheep amidst the high Altai mountains. Down in the valley, however, is the village, under Soviet control. As the novel progresses, the influence of the village creeps up the mountainside, first taking away the boy’s brother and sister to school, then changing life in other ways, large and small.

The author of The Blue Sky, Galsan Tschinag, is coming to North America in October. His Tuvan name is Irgit Shynykbai-oglu Dshurukuwaa. He was born in the early 1940s. He studied in Leipzig as a young man, later returning to his homeland. He became a chief among the Tuvans and led his people, scattered under Communist rule, back in a huge caravan to their original home in the High Altai mountains.

We at Milkweed Editions, his US publisher, are eager to get the word out about the coming of this great Tuvan leader to the US. He speaks German and Tuvan. He is quite a performer, donning the garb of a shaman, reading his work and signing (the famous Tuvan throat-singing). We are trying to put together a tour for him in the US and would welcome your thoughts about possible venues.

Many thanks for your time.
Hilary
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Hilary Reeves
Managing Director, Milkweed Editions
1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55415
612-215-2553; fax: 612-215-2550
www.milkweed.org .

Posted May 6, 2006.