The Silk Road Creations Series has announced the selection of Dr. Alexandra Ochirova as the Silk Road Literature Series Person of the Year 2025.
Dr. Ochirova is a distinguished Russian philosopher and poet, a member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Throughout her rich career, she has served as a global voice for culture, dialogue, and humanistic values. Her contributions to philosophy, the advancement of international understanding, and the enrichment of both classical and contemporary poetry have inspired generations of thinkers and creators around the world.
This honor coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Silk Road Literature Series and inaugurates a new annual tradition of recognizing a cultural figure whose creative and intellectual achievements embody the spirit of peace, dialogue, and artistic excellence at the heart of the Silk Road’s legacy. Through her work and her humanistic and philosophical vision, Dr. Ochirova exemplifies this ethos—one embraced by the international community of the Silk Road Creations Series. On this occasion, a specially designed commemorative artistic shield will be presented to Dr. Ochirova at a ceremony in Moscow.
Unveiling an Artistic Commemorative Shield Honoring the 2025 Laureate
This unique artwork reflects the series’ mission to celebrate creativity, dialogue, and cultural harmony among civilizations. The shield is distinguished by its innovative use of artistic recycling, transforming materials into a symbolically resonant design. At its center lies the original circular disc of an audio record—an emblem of poetry and the infinite echo of the human voice. Its circular form evokes the continuous flow of creativity, a boundless resonance that transcends cultures and generations, framed by a structure representing the four directions.
Behind the disc lies a layer of Egyptian papyrus, a nod to the ancient heritage of Egypt, the birthplace of early writing and recorded human thought. This component reconnects the present with the roots of the past, linking contemporary achievements to the earliest foundations of art, knowledge, and intellectual history.
The union of recycled materials, the poetic disc, and the papyrus backdrop creates a harmonious artwork celebrating sustainability and the enduring power of the written word. The design embodies the ongoing dialogue between past and present, echoing the Silk Road’s historic role as a bridge between cultures.
Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, founder and director of the Silk Road Literature Series, stated:
“This year’s commemorative shield will be presented to Dr. Alexandra Ochirova—UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, philosopher, poet, and an inspiring public figure—in recognition of her profound contributions to global culture, human thought, and the values embraced by the Silk Road Creations Series. The award ceremony will be held in Moscow, where Dr. Ochirova will receive this honorary shield as a symbol of appreciation, respect, and our shared cultural vision.”
The Silk Road Creations Series, in collaboration with An-Nasher Publishing House in Cairo and Left Publishing House in Moscow, has also released Dr. Ochirova’s poetry collection The Russian Cosmologist, winner of the World Organization of Writers’ Poetry Award for this year.
This collection brings together 106 of Dr. Ochirova’s finest poems, spanning both her early and recent creative phases.
The book opens with an introduction by Konstantin Kedrov and concludes with a set of concise analytical reviews written by ten distinguished poets from various countries. Among them is Michael Lavery, a specialist in Slavic languages at the University of Maryland, who edited the English translation to ensure clarity and stylistic fluency for international readers—allowing them to explore the cosmic philosophy at the heart of the work, where human consciousness is inseparably intertwined with the universe.
The volume also features the contribution of Egyptian poet Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, editor-in-chief of The Silk Road Today, who translated Ochirova’s poems into Arabic. His translation highlights her philosophical call for peace and environmental stewardship and emphasizes the values of harmony and compassion that form a continuous thread in her poetry, opening a door for readers to engage with the timeless questions of humanity’s place in the universe and its relationship with nature.
