ASTANA – Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen has joined the nationwide Reading Nation marathon in its Parasat category, a non-competitive initiative that promotes reading through the personal example of public figures. Unlike participants in the competitive stages, those in Parasat do not compete for cash prizes; the category focuses instead on promoting a culture of reading through personal example.
The marathon’s competitive stages offer substantial cash prizes: regional winners receive 600,000 tenge (US$1,337) for first place, 450,000 tenge (US$1,000) for second and 300,000 tenge (US$668) for third, while the 10 top readers selected at the national final will each receive 10 million tenge (US$22,293), bringing the total value of the main national prizes to 100 million tenge (US$222,937).
For the marathon, Qudaibergen selected the autobiography of Kazakh artist and anti-nuclear movement activist Karipbek Kuyukov, “Life Without Hands”, which recounts the artist’s life and his work despite being born without arms as a result of the effects of nuclear testing in the Semipalatinsk region, reported the Ministry of Culture and Information on Sept.
21. Qudaibergen said he had met Kuyukov personally in Karagandy before a Miner’s Day concert. “His life journey, unyielding perseverance in the face of hardship and strength of spirit made a particular impression on me,” he said. The Reading Nation marathon runs from September to April 2027.
It includes Kazakh and Russian-language leagues and seven areas involving schoolchildren, students, teachers, families, civil servants and other participants. The initiative follows a presidential decree signed in May on measures to develop reading culture and form a “reading nation.” The document sets reading promotion as a priority in culture, education and innovation policy and envisages measures to expand access to books and modernize the country’s literary and library infrastructure.
The campaign comes amid broader discussion about reading and foundational skills in the digital and AI era. Kazakhstan’s latest PISA results showed that 15-year-old students performed below the OECD average in reading, mathematics and science. Against this backdrop, the government is also preparing measures to promote reading through new library formats, wider access to literature and a national concept for developing reading culture in the AI era.