Famous Uyghur Writer Tohti Ayup Has Passed Away at 80

Renowned Uyghur Writer Tohti Ayup, Author of ‘Wolf Mother’ and ‘Return to Taklimakan,’ Passes Away on April 9, 2025, Daughter Jineste Confirms via Abdushukur Qumtur

By Uyghur Times

According to Ms. Jineste, the daughter of Tohti Ayup in France, who informed Uyghur writer Abdushukur Qumtur, renowned Uyghur writer Tohti Ayup, who illuminated the ecological issues faced by Uyghurs through his novels such as “Wolf Mother” and “Return to Taklimakan,” passed away on April 9, 2025, at 10 AM.

Biography of Writer Tohti Ayup

Writer Tohti Ayup was born in 1945 in Kucha County to a family of teachers. From 1953 to 1961, he attended elementary and middle schools in Kucha County. From 1961 to 1963, he studied at the Aksu Provincial Teachers’ College. After graduation until 1979, he worked as a professional creative artist in the Kucha County Art Troupe. In 1979, he participated in establishing the “Aksu Literature” journal and served as its editor. In 1982, Tohti Ayup transferred to Xinjiang People’s Publishing House, where he worked as an editor. Since 1988, he had worked as a professional writer for the “Xinjiang” Writers Association.

Tohti Ayup entered the literary field with his poems published in the 1960s. Since taking up the pen again in the late 1970s, he has consistently engaged in prose writing, producing stories such as “The Guard,” “Value of Life,” “Horn,” “Rumbling Wind,” “Cradle,” “The Last Prayer,” “Loneliness at Dusk,” novellas such as “Pearl Spring” and “Sand-Covered Sea,” and the novel “Heaven’s Command,” earning praise from literary critics and readers alike.

Tohti Ayup has also been successful in other literary genres. He wrote dramas such as “Revenge,” film and television scripts like “Seeker of Happiness” and “The Policeman and the Devil,” as well as literary news features such as “The Future Starts Here.”

For his creative achievements, Tohti Ayup has been awarded numerous times, including the relatively prestigious Zhuang Jingwen Literary Award in China in 1991.

Tohti Ayup’s published works include: the short story collection “Value of Life” (1983, Xinjiang People’s Publishing House), the short story and novella collection “Pearl Spring” (1985, Xinjiang Youth Publishing House), the novella collection “Aspiration” (1988, Xinjiang People’s Publishing House), the novella collection “Sand-Covered Sea” (1991, Xinjiang Youth Publishing House), the short story collection “Rumbling Wind” (1993, Nationalities Publishing House), and the novel “Heaven’s Command” (1994, Xinjiang Youth Publishing House).