Istanbul's young literary scene hosted by DEG

The event under the title "Halting rhythms and extreme change" started with Hakan Günday, who is considered the “enfant terrible” of young Turkish literature. His novel "Az" (Few) recounts the dramatic fates of two children: of Derdâ, an eleven years old girl who is sold to a Muslim cult leader’s son in London as wife, and of her male counterpart Derda, an eleven years old boy who works in a cemetery in Istanbul.

In Aksak Ritim (The Halting Rhythm), Gaye Boralıoğlu, who also works as a screenwriter, took the audience in the sold-out DEG Atrium into Istanbul’s Roma neighbourhood. The book title refers to 9/8 time, an irregular, thus "halting", time signature which is characteristic for the music of the Roma. Consequently also the protagonists of her book get out of step in tragic circumstances.

The third participant, Alper Canigüz, has invented an entirely new genre with Tatlı Rüyalar (Sweet Dreams): the absurd romantic psychocomedy. In his novel, published more than ten years ago in Turkey, Canigüz plays with different levels of reality. His protagonist Sevket Hakan Tuncel dreams of turning into the French composer Hector Berlioz. Dream and reality merge more and more until the boundary between reality and dream is blurring. Canigüz also works as an advertising copywriter and his literary works contain elements both humorous and grotesque. In 2013, he became the first Turkish author to be named to the “Weltempfänger” list of best books by the German organisation litprom.

The event was presented by Oliver Kontny, host and translator, in Turkish and German. The German texts were read out by Melanie Kretschmann from Schauspielhaus Köln in a captivating manner.

For the fourth time in a row, DEG, in its role as a partner of lit.Cologne, hosted one of the events. Since 2001, this international literary festival has taken place in various venues throughout the city of Cologne, combining traditional readings with discussions, lectures, as well as theatre and cabaret performances.

DEG provides private-sector companies with financing and advice in order to contribute to sustainable growth in developing countries. As a partner of lit.Cologne, DEG provides a platform for authors from its partner countries and facilitates cultural exchange.