Rakhymzhan Otarbayev was a writer and playwright. He was born on October 19, 1956 in Kurmangazy district of the Atyrau region. Rakhymzhan graduated from the Oral Pedagogical Institute in 1977. He then began his career as a correspondent for a regional newspaper. Otarbayev was awarded the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan title, he was an academician of the International Chingiz Aitmatov Academy, a holder of the "Parasat" order, a laureate of the Makhambet Republican Prize, and a presidential scholarship fellow.
The author's works are popular not only in our country, but also abroad. His selected works have been translated into Russian, Kyrgyz, Chinese, Arabic, Turkish, and English.
One of the most famous works of Rakhymzhan Otarbayev is his novel «Bas», which describes a real historical event in a grotesque fantasy form. The famous akyn and batyr of the Kazakh people, Makhambet Otemisuly, fell victim to internecine and political strife in the steppe at the end of the 19th century. The freedom fighter was killed, beheaded by traitors, and his head was later buried next to his body.
