by Matthew Chovanec While working on edits for the translation of 'Gavur Mahallesi' by Mıgırdiç Margosyan, I received feedback for each of the four different languages used in the book of short stories. Over lunch, an Armenian staff writer at a New York magazine told me that it would be better to translate ‘Agavni’ as … Continue reading ‘Gavur Mahallesi’ by Migirdic Margosyan
‘My Grandmother’ by Fethiye Çetin
By Dr. Rubina Peroomian I want to start this blog with the question posed to me after I delivered the keynote speech at the AIEA (Association internationale des études armeniénnes) Conference, last week, held in Oxford UK (my topic was “The Diasporan Armenian Literature Entering the Second Century of the Continuing Effects of the Genocide”). … Continue reading ‘My Grandmother’ by Fethiye Çetin
‘Never Regret The Pain: Loving and Losing a Bipolar Spouse’ by Sel Erder Yackley
Sel Erder Yackley is a native Türk -- an immigrant and now a citizen of America. I had the chance to hear her sharing memories of living with a bipolar spouse. Her black and white book cover looked awfully grim, the title even grimmer, and the subject did nothing to make me say, "gee, I … Continue reading ‘Never Regret The Pain: Loving and Losing a Bipolar Spouse’ by Sel Erder Yackley
A Documentary Novel: “The Entrusted Trousseau – Peoples of the Exchange” by Kemal Yalçin
One of the advantages of reading in my adopted language of Turkish is, of course, the range of books available in Turkey by Turkish authors. Books published in Turkey are much cheaper than foreign-language imported books, so this book seemed like a bargain when a bookseller recommended it to me. It changed the way I … Continue reading A Documentary Novel: “The Entrusted Trousseau – Peoples of the Exchange” by Kemal Yalçin
Halide Edib: The Indian Connection
Halide Edib's "Inside India" was first published in 1937 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd, but remained unnoticed for many years. Then in 2002, Oxford University Press reprinted it with an introduction by the eminent historian of India, Prof. Mushirul Hasan, who also served as vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia (translation: Community Islamic University), in … Continue reading Halide Edib: The Indian Connection
Graphic Novels from Turkey
Foreign teachers of English in Turkey quickly learn that many Turkish parents want their children to grow up to be either a doctor or an engineer. Those were the safest choices in earlier generations, and parents are occasionally reluctant to believe in the new expanded choices available in a booming Turkey. Children are expected to … Continue reading Graphic Novels from Turkey
An Enduring Resonance: Turkey’s Jewish Voices
By Dayla Rogers The Ottoman Empire (1299-1923) was a mind-bogglingly diverse place. For nearly seven centuries all stripes of Muslim, Christian and Jewish people, falling into countless ethnic and linguistic groups, existed in relative harmony compared to Europe, where ghettos, pogroms and discrimination were commonplace. Sephardic Jews, defined as those of Spain and Portugal, were … Continue reading An Enduring Resonance: Turkey’s Jewish Voices
Ottoman/Turkish Women’s Autobiographical Narratives, 19th to Early 20th Century
By Dr. Roberta Micallef European men and women fantasized about, wrote about and painted Middle Eastern, especially Ottoman/Turkish, women for decades. Ottoman and Turkish women were not silent passive participants in this conversation. They wrote back. Some participated in the stereotypes abounding about them and others fought them, but all of those who participated in … Continue reading Ottoman/Turkish Women’s Autobiographical Narratives, 19th to Early 20th Century
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 