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Akyn (Kazakh: ақын/aqın, Kyrgyz: Акын/Akyn, Russian: акын) is an improvising poet and singer in the Kazakh and Kyrgyz cultures. Akyn differs from the so-called zhirau, who is an epic storyteller and a song performer. Akyns improvise in the form of a song-like recitative to the accompaniment of a dombra. Considering the nomadic lifestyle and illiteracy of most of the rural population in Central Asia in pre-Soviet times, akyns played and important role in terms of expressing people's thoughts and feelings, exposing social vices, and glorifying heroes.
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