Between the Naked Water and the Flower of the Iroko: A book review of My Country Tonight by Josué Guébo

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Guébo’s verse in My Country, Tonight (Mon Pays Ce Soir) often refers to the Iroko, a tree that withstands brush-fire and cannot be razed, because of its deep and study roots. Iroko: the name of the tree is also the name of a guardian-deity, or ancestor-spirit worshiped in West-African traditional religions — the native religions that Guébo insists have … Continue reading Between the Naked Water and the Flower of the Iroko: A book review of My Country Tonight by Josué Guébo

Review: The Language of Angels by Richard Michelson

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A new illustrated children’s book tells the story of a Jewish boy who has no friends and whose parents won’t let him play with anyone, fearful that other children actually may talk to him. He doesn’t speak until he’s 4 years old, and when he does, it is in response to his father’s anger at his … Continue reading Review: The Language of Angels by Richard Michelson

Review: Sephardic Jews and the Spanish Language by Ángel Pulido

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Sephardic Jews and the Spanish Language offers an incomparable lens into the transnational exchanges between Spanish politician, Ángel Pulido, and a handful of prominent Spanish Jews across Eastern Europe and Turkey. Pulido's acquaintances, whom he met during his travels in the Balkans, were the descendants of the exiled Spanish Jews of the infamous 1493 Inquisition. … Continue reading Review: Sephardic Jews and the Spanish Language by Ángel Pulido

A Month of Turkish Literature via Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

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https://www.ted.com/talks/ann_morgan_my_year_reading_a_book_from_every_country_in_the_world By Karen Van Drie, Editor of Turkish Literature Month for Global Literature in Libraries Like a lot of people who love to read, I was captivated by Ann Morgan's reading innovation of reading a book from every country in the world. What a cool idea! Short of visiting every nation in the world, how … Continue reading A Month of Turkish Literature via Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

Six Titles on the Kurdish Experience in Turkey

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By Burhan Sönmez Board Member, PEN International Mountain Language by Harold Pinter was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in London in 1988. It was a play written three years after Pinter’s visit to Turkey for observing the consequences of a military coup in the country. When he, with Arthur Miller, on behalf of … Continue reading Six Titles on the Kurdish Experience in Turkey

‘Cooking New Istanbul Style’ by Refika Birgül

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When you think of Turkish cuisine, the odds are that visions of kebabs and sticky desserts come to mind. However, over the last few years, a breath of fresh air has swept through the nation’s kitchens where the same traditional ingredients are now being used in exciting new ways. Refika Birgül has been an early … Continue reading ‘Cooking New Istanbul Style’ by Refika Birgül

‘A Strangeness in My Mind’ by Orhan Pamuk

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Orhan Pamuk’s latest novel has rightly been called a love letter to his home city of Istanbul, but this may mislead unfamiliar readers; for the pages convey neither swooning adoration nor healthy affection, but rather Pamuk’s compulsive fascination with this place. Through the eyes of his sensitive protagonist, he takes us on a street-level tour … Continue reading ‘A Strangeness in My Mind’ by Orhan Pamuk

‘My Grandmother’ by Fethiye Çetin

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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

LGBTI identities in Turkish Literature

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Beyond Borders: Murathan Mungan’s Texts LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex) identities have been manifested in Turkish literature since the 1960s. Starting with Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Bilge Karasu, Leyla Erbil, and Tezer Özlü, homosexuality and homoerotic moments begin to be depicted openly in novels and short stories rather than with an ambiguous and closed … Continue reading LGBTI identities in Turkish Literature

A Documentary Novel: “The Entrusted Trousseau – Peoples of the Exchange” by Kemal Yalçin

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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