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
LGBTI identities in Turkish Literature
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
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
An Excerpt from ‘Soraya’ by Meltem Yılmaz
Turkey is hosting an estimated 2.5 million Syrian people who have fled the conflict areas of Syria. Can you imagine 2.5 million refugees coming to your country? Truly, watching the response of Turkish people in Istanbul to their visiting neighbors from Syria is awe-inspiring. Turks are famous for their hospitality, and the same hospitality … Continue reading An Excerpt from ‘Soraya’ by Meltem Yılmaz
Usurping Words: Turkish Coup Literature
In Turkish history, secretive groups have taken a particular type of pleasure from staging coups. Authors of the Turkish language, meanwhile, have been taking a different, literary type of pleasure from writing about their attempts at usurping political power. During the Latin American boom of the 1960s and 1970s, writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and … Continue reading Usurping Words: Turkish Coup Literature
‘The Time Regulation Institute’ by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
Years ago, I came across the name of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar (1901-1962) for the first time. I was reading Orhan Pamuk’s book about Istanbul and Pamuk refers to Tanpinar as his most important teacher as a writer and novelist. That’s a sufficient reason to have a closer look at this author and his novel The … Continue reading ‘The Time Regulation Institute’ by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
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
The Roads Where Love Walked: An Excerpt from ‘Wûf’
Getting Turkish books published in English is tough. Publishers already have an idea of the types are marketable: those about the meeting of East and West, warfare and/or women’s rights. Stories that fall outside of these paradigms have a very difficult time finding a publisher. One reason for this seems to be publishers’ belief that … Continue reading The Roads Where Love Walked: An Excerpt from ‘Wûf’
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
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 