Turkey Book Talk #232 – Jennifer Hattam reflects on a decade-and-a-half of reporting on Turkey’s environmental, political and cultural agenda, as well as wrenching changes in journalism and staying afloat amid Istanbul’s relentless urban upheaval.

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Turkey Book Talk #223 – Ozge Samanci, artist and associate professor at Northwestern University, on her new graphic novel “Evil Eyes Sea” (Uncivilized Books).

The semi-autobiographical story is a murder mystery centred on a group of students at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul in the 1990s. It follows up from her highly successful graphic novel “Dare to Disappoint”.

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Read a transcript of the interview on Substack.

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Become a member on Substack or Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and links to articles related to each episode.

Turkey Book Talk #199James Meyer, associate professor of Islamic World History at Montana State University, on “Red Star over the Black Sea: Nazım Hikmet and His Generation” (Oxford University Press). 

The book is a new biography of the great 20th century poet Nazım Hikmet (1902-1963). It draws deeply on previously untapped archival sources from Moscow, Istanbul, Amsterdam and Washington, situating him within a broader generation of border-crossing Turkish communists.

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Read excerpts from Chapter 11 of the book.

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Turkey Book Talk #196 – Ci Demi on his photographs of Istanbul, which present an eerie, unflattering image of the city through depopulated landscapes, urban sprawl and surreal juxtapositions.

His latest photobook ”Sehri Fikri” (Notions of a City) was recently published by Onagöre.

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Check out Ci Demi’s work on Instagram.

Listen to the Spotify playlist “Something Is Missing”, created to accompany the “Sehri Fikri” photobook.

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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury (including the book from this episode), transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, links to related content upon publication of each episode, and over 200 book reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

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Turkey Book Talk #193Aron Aji discusses the life and work of Turkish author Ferit Edgü

Aji’s translations of Edgü’s excellent, austere novellas “The Wounded Age” and “Eastern Tales” were recently published in a new single volume by New York Review Books.

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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, links to related content upon publication of each episode, and over 200 book reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Check out and sign up to the excellent Turkey Recap.

Turkey Book Talk episode 167Sarah-Neel Smith, assistant professor in the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism at the Maryland Institute College of Art, on “Metrics of Modernity: Art and Development in Postwar Turkey” (University of California Press). 

The book paints a vivid portrait of Turkey’s art world in the 1950s and how it reflected early Cold War ideas of national development, individual enterprise and global integration.

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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, links to related content upon publication of each episode, and over 200 book reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Check out and sign up to the excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.

Turkey Book Talk episode #146 – Buke Uras on “The Balyans: Ottoman Architecture and the Balyan Archive” (Korpus).

The Balyan family served as Ottoman imperial architects for three generations in the 19th century and are responsible for some of Istanbul’s most iconic monuments, including Dolmabahce Palace and Ortakoy Mosque.

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Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get extras including exclusive access to a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman history books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.

Turkey Book Talk episode #145 – Suna Çağaptay, post-doctoral research associate at St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge, on “The First Capital of the Ottoman Empire: The Religious, Architectural and Social History of Bursa” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury).

The book examines Bursa’s history from antiquity to the present day, particularly focusing on its hybrid and plural character after transitioning from Byzantine to Ottoman rule in the 14th century.

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Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get extras including exclusive access to a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman history books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.

Turkey Book Talk episode #138 – Jenny White, professor at Stockholm University’s Institute for Turkish Studies, on “Turkish Kaleidoscope: Fractured Lives in a Time of Violence” (Princeton University Press).

The graphic novel, illustrated by Ergün Gündüz, tells the story of four young protagonists caught up in the social and political turbulence leading to Turkey’s 1980 military coup.

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Here’s a link to the Spotify playlist specially crafted to complement the book, featuring popular songs from the era.

Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.

Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get extras including exclusive access to a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman history books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.

Turkey Book Talk #129 – Elizabeth Rodini on “Gentile Bellini’s Portrait of Sultan Mehmed II: Lives and Afterlives of an Iconic Image” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury).

The book explores how and why the Venetian painter came to the Ottoman court in 1479, as well as his portrait’s many intriguing afterlives in subsequent centuries.

Download the episode or listen below:

Listen to Turkey Book Talk:  iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS

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Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get loads of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 100 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury’s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.

Turkey Book Talk #124  –  Zeynep Çelik, professor of architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, on the origins of archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, the response to the European pursuit of antiquities, and questions of heritage in contemporary Turkey.

Çelik is author of “Empire, Architecture and the City: French-Ottoman Encounters, 1830-1914” (University of Washington Press) and “About Antiquities: Politics of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire” (University of Texas Press), among others.

Download the episode or listen below

Listen to Turkey Book Talk :  iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS

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Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter

As mentioned at the end of the episode, Nektaria Anastasiadou’s debut novel, “A Recipe for Daphne”, has just been published by Hoopoe Books. Check out details here and order it from Hoopoe here.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get loads of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 100 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury’s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.

Turkey Book Talk episode #119  –  Magdalena Zaborowska, professor of literature at the University of Michigan, on her book “James Baldwin’s Turkish Decade: Erotics of Exile” (Duke University Press)

The book looks at the great African American author’s extensive periods living and working in Istanbul from 1961 to 1971.

Download the episode or listen below.

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Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get loads of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 100 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury’s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.