Sundet Seitov

Sundet Seitov (Kazakh: Сүндет Мұратбекұлы Сейітов; born October 3, 1998) is a Kazakh author, poet, writer, essayist, and translator. He is a member of the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan and The Authors Guild in the United States.

Seitov was born in the Chinaz District of Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan. He later moved to Shymkent, Kazakhstan, where he completed much of his education and began his literary career.

He studied at several schools in the Shymkent region before attending the Parasat College named after M. Saparbayev from 2014 to 2017. From 2017 to 2022, he studied at the Central Asian Innovation University, specializing in philology within the Faculty of Pedagogy. In 2018, he won the national literary competition "Men Zhastarğa Senemin" and received an educational grant from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Seitov began his literary career at an early age and has worked in poetry, prose, essays, and literary translation. His published works include the poetry collections "Taube" (2017), "Mariya" (2019), "Ikigai" (2021), and "Umytpas" (2022). His later publications include the English-language books "Drone Show", "I Want to Be a Woman", "Mourning Day Fireworks", and "The Story of a Refugee Heart", as well as the Russian-language collection "Cruel Mannequin" and the Turkish-language poetry collection "Unutmabeni".

His literary work has been published in Kazakh, English, Russian, and Turkish. He has also worked as a literary translator, translating classical works from Chagatai into Kazakh, including ghazals attributed to Muhammad Shaybani and works associated with Hafiz Khorezmi and Furqat. He also adapted Ken Ludwig's play "Leading Ladies" into Kazakh.

In addition to his literary activities, Seitov has worked in journalism, publishing, public relations, and library services. From 2015 to 2016, he worked as a correspondent for the national newspaper "El Birligi". From 2016, he has served as chairman of the literary and creative center "Sham". He later worked as a correspondent for the literary magazine "Qazyghurt", at the Youth Resource Center of Shymkent, and as a press secretary for the Department of Employment and Social Protection of Shymkent.

From 2021 to 2023, Seitov worked as an editor at the Kazakh University publishing house of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. He has also worked in the Al-Farabi City Scientific Universal Library of Shymkent and the Shymkent City Youth Library. Since 2024, he has worked at the A. S. Pushkin City Universal Library.

Seitov became a member of the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan in 2021 and joined The Authors Guild in the United States in 2025.

He has received awards and recognition in a number of literary competitions. Among them are laureate titles in the Republican Literary Competition named after Mukagali Makatayev, the "Kuz Mereke" literary competition, and the "Shyrailym-Shubaikyzylym" poetry competition. He was also a two-time recipient of the "Best Poet of the Year" award of Shymkent and received a letter of appreciation from the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) in 2017.

Seitov's literary works include poetry, prose, and works addressing social, philosophical, and humanitarian themes. His novel "Drone Show" explores themes of peace, war, human dignity, and the struggle against violence.

He continues to live and work in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, where he combines literary activity with professional work in the cultural and library sectors.