On one side of the world, a boy looks out his window to watch colorful fireworks burst in the sky. In another part of the world, a girl presses her face to her window as she sees rockets and bombs strike her neighborhood. Their lives are so very different, yet in the Turkish picture book … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Ferris Wheel
The world can be a frightening and overwhelming place. Pina, an orange cat-like character with large, soulful eyes, prefers to stay at home. In his little abode, Pina is surrounded by creature comforts and familiar objects. He can snuggle under a soft blanket and read a book, sit by the open fire with a cup … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Pina
Starting where so many journeys have begun or ended, at the iconic Haydarpaşa railway station on Istanbul’s waterfront, Nâzım Hikmet’s Human Landscapes from My Country paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of Turkey in the WWII era. Following first the 3:45 p.m. train with its motley cast of third-class passengers and then the 7 p.m. express, carrying … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Nâzım Hikmet and Human Landscapes from My Country
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
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
https://vimeo.com/37545910 I AM LISTENING TO ISTANBUL I am listening to Istanbul, intent, my eyes closed: At first there is a gentle breeze And the leaves on the trees Softly sway; Out there, far away, The bells of water-carriers unceasingly ring; I am listening to Istanbul, intent, my eyes closed. I am listening to Istanbul, … Continue reading ‘I Am Listening to Istanbul’ a poem by Orhan Veli
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fej8igH_3o I Living is no laughing matter: you must live with great seriousness like a squirrel, for example— I mean without looking for something beyond and above living, I mean living must be your whole occupation. Living is no laughing matter: you must take it seriously, so much so and to such a degree … Continue reading ‘On Living’ a poem by Nazim Hikmet
“Kürk Mantolu Madonna” by Sabahattin Ali was first published in 48 parts in Hakikat newspaper in 1940, before being published in book form in 1943. In 1998 it was republished by Yapi Kredi Yayinlar and to date has sold over 1.6 million copies in 85 reprints. Sales are reported to be 10-15,000 copies per month, … Continue reading Best Seller for a New Age – ‘Madonna in a Fur Coat’ by Sabahattin Ali
The first time I read Seray Şahiner’s work was almost ten years ago when her initial collection of short stories Gelin Başı (Bridal Hair) came out. I was immediately struck by her powerful and unfeigned writing. Never two-dimensional, her characters popped out of the pages full flesh, blood, tears and laughs. Already then, I had … Continue reading Why we need to translate Seray Şahiner
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