Author Archive

Living Through Translation: An Interview With Dr. Aron Aji

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Dr. Aron Aji is a highly accomplished translator with a range of work under his belt, from Turkish writers that include Elif Shafak, Murathan Mungan, Bilge Karasu, and Latife Tekin. We chatted about his background, how Bilge Karasu subverts the stereotypical Turkish identity, and the internalization of exile.

The Creative Process of Translating Text: An Interview With Dr. Erdağ Göknar

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I spoke with Dr. Erdağ Göknar, an award-winning scholar, poet, and translator, about how his diaspora background contributes to his work, his approach to translation as a creative act, and the limiting factor of editorial expectations in publishing Turkish texts in translation.

“A Novel in Poetry”: An Interview With Dr. Mutlu Konuk Blasing and Poet Randy Blasing

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I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Mutlu Konuk Blasing and Randy Blasing, the formidable translators of Nazım Hikmet. The Blasings have translated six books of Hikmet's poetry together, and on their own they have a long record of contributions to scholarship and poetry.

Translating Turkish: An Interview With Agency Owner and Translator Amy Spangler

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Amy Spangler is the co-founder of the Turkish literary agency, AnatoliaLit, and a translator of several novels from Turkish to English. Amy's latest translation, Noontime in Yenişehir, was published by Milet Publishing last year.

“Mapping out the Moves”: An Interview With Poet and Translator Derick Mattern

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Derick Mattern is an accomplished poet and translator of Turkish poetry. I spoke with him about his approach to translation, why he believes that all poets should translate, and how he wanted his time in Turkey to be very Turkish.

The Three Percent 10 Years Later: An Interview With Chad Post

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Since Chad Post, founding publisher of Open Letter Books, created The Three Percent blog in 2007, the term the “three percent” has become a household one to highlight the percentage of translated books published in the United States.

An End-of-2016 Books in Translation Reading Wishlist

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Despite having read and enjoyed works in translation like Christos Ikonomou's Something Will Happen, You'll See and Burhan Sönmez's İstanbul, İstanbul, I know that the full range of works in translation this year alone is vast (580 books according to Three Percent's 2016 database).

A Blackout By Any Other Name

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A year and a half ago, most of Turkey lost power. 80 of its 81 provinces, excluding Van, suddenly had no electricity. Since power outages in Istanbul are fairly frequent, that morning as I was out helping my then boyfriend get a tax number in central Istanbul, the lack

The Impact of Expat Writers in Uncertain Times: Lawrence Durrell

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Lawrence Durrell's life-long relationship with Greece began early. Like Patrick Leigh Fermor, he too was the product of British colonialism, having been born in Jalandar, a case that may be more common than is often realized in thinking about Britain's involvement in India.

The Impact of Expat Writers in Uncertain Times: Patrick Leigh Fermor

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The year was 1944. Special Operations Executive officer Patrick “Paddy” Leigh Fermor, having spent a year in Cairo, returned to the occupied island of Crete to kidnap a German general. The incident would come to be known as the Kidnap, or Abduction, of General Kreipe.