The Bosphorus Review of Books is a predominantly English-language journal focused on cross-cultural arts exchange and providing literary works and commentary for Turkey and the world, locals and emigres, but most importantly lovers of literature.
The Bosphorus Review of Books is hosting a panel of Turkish to English translators to discus their work, translation and literature on Sunday 6 May at KargArt Kadıköy. For more information, please check out the official event page.
From the Organizer:
Turkish literature is both deep and varied, with a multitude world-class poets, novelists and essayists to its name. However, with the exception of Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şafak and Yaşar Kemal, there hasn’t been a huge amount of Turkish literature translated when compared to other countries. It has meant that important works of Turkish literature like Tanpınar’s Time Regulation Institute have only received a widely distributed translation recently.
This is, fortunately, changing. In the last few years there has been a major increase in the amounts of Turkish literature being made available. From classics like Sabahattin Ali’s Madonna in a Fur Coat to modern writers like Ahmet Ümit, more and more Turkish literature is being brought out in English, making it a very exciting time to be reading.
At the forefront of this change are, of course, translators. Often times very talented writers and artists in their own rights, without these people’s skills we would not be able to enjoy the masterworks of Turkish literature. Translation is, as anybody who has used google translate will tell you, hard work. It is a complicated process where the translator has to make difficult choices between preserving the spirit, voice and vocabulary of a text while conveying the meaning in a language that is completely different.
Whether a book makes it in a market outside of its original language depends so much on the choices that a translator makes. As this is a topic that gets very little attention, on the 6th of May, during the Istanbul International Literature Festival The Bosphorus Review of Books is hosting a panel of Turkish to English translators to discus their work, translation and literature.
The panel will feature three of the top Turkish to English translators in the world: Alexander Dawe, Ümit Hussein, and Zeynep Beler.
Alexander Dawe is the translator of the seminal Time Regulation Institute, Sabahattin Ali’s Madonna in a Fur Coat and so many more important books, both classics and modern.
Zeynep Beler has translated More by the underground writer Hakan Günday and the journalist Ece Temelkuran.
Last but not least, Ümit Hussein, translator of Honour Killing: Stories of Men Who Killed by Ayşe Önal and Istanbul Istanbul by Burhan Sönmez, which recently won the EBRD prize for literature.
All three of these translators have made great impacts in the work of Turkish literature and have translated books I love. I owe them a lot for that. As a result, It brings me great pleasure to get them the recognition I feel they deserve. Somewhat understandably, the writer of a book gets the lion’s share of the attention. However, without top-quality translators behind the scenes, the world of literature would be a much duller place.
If you are interested in literature and/or translation, the panel should capture your interest.
The event will be in English on Sunday, the 6th of May at KargART Kadıköy at 18:00-19:00. Hope to see you all there!
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For more information, visit the official website.
Image sourced via the official Facebook event.
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