Born in 1930, Saken Imanasov has published more than fifty poetry books since 1950. He led a typical life of a hungry poet, working as a railroad worker until he became an editor of Zhazushy Publishing Company. He is the winner of the Alashi International Literature Award. His translations include works by Rumi, a Persian poet, by Russian poets, Kolsov, Mayakovsky, by Neto, the first Angolan President, and by Yefimov, a Yakut Cossack.