As four Turkish authors came to the city on April 21 for an evening of literature at the Oxford Bookstore, it was not only an occasion for brilliant minds to engage together, but was also a moment for two cultures to foster a stronger bond with each other. India had always made them curious and coming here was all Gürsel Korat, Gül İrepoğlu, Nermin Yıldırım and Tuna Kiremitci could ask for at the moment.
Organised by the Embassy of Republic of Turkey, discussions about how literature can build bridges between different people and how it can help us understand each other better was the intention and topic of discussion. “I love Indian literature, and Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy and Vikas Swarup are some of my favourites,” says Yıldırım, adding, “You have many good writers here, and we too have many things to share, so a meeting like this was significant.”
Considering herself lucky because there is somebody like Burak Akçapar as the Ambassador of Turkey in India, who promotes and assists anybody who shows promise, she feels that authors like her have got a good platform to interchange ideas and suggestions.
Till 10 years ago, it was not easy to find Turkish novels in a foreign city. But after novelist Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel Prize and great work of certain agencies, things have changed, according to him. “Our literature has now started to be valued, and I hope the next time I visit, the Turkish bookshelf will have many more books,” says Yıldırım.