November’s works are now live and can be found below and throughout the postings on the English homepage!
As İlkyaz, we work to introduce three young writers every month. We translate these works, which are be made up of a short stories or poems, into English and endeavour to introduce them to readers outside of Turkey.
This exchange, we hope, will create new audiences for our writers in the world arena and introduce them to a global network of the world’s literary figures.
İlkyaz Is Celebratıng It’s Fırst Year Havıng Provıded Our Young Wrıters A Platform In 12 dıfferent countrıes!
As İlkyaz in our one year lifespan, we published 80 young writers ranging from under 15 to 35, translated 52 writers to English, managed to increase our readership to over 3K a month on average, reached out to people from 124 different countries (although 30 of these were made up of a single person only). We gathered book recommendations for young writers from 12 renown writers of Turkey and the world. In doing all this we made good friends along the way and set the foundations for an ever growing young writers family.
We wholeheartedly thank our supporters PEN International, PEN Turkey and PEN Norway, our small but dedicated team (Ege Dündar, Irmak Ertaş, Halil Gediz, Özge Sargın) all our writers who contributed, all our readers who showed an interest and our 12 PEN Partners for making space for our young writers, all of whom made this success possible. In the coming year, we will continue to strive in improving on this success by planning events to introduce our writers and readers, publishing a fanzine they would be able to read and many more initiatives we hope will excite all of us. Thank you and may our ink never run out!
In December, we initiated this effort with Norwegian PEN‘s lead. After PEN Germany, PEN Belgium/Flanders continued the very same role for the month of February. For March, PEN French Centre took over the role of promoting our young writers abroad. For the writings of April, we collaborated with PEN South Africa. For May, Scottish PEN took over the role of amplifying our young writers voices within their membership and audience, and PEN Catalan promoted our writers for June to their own members and audience. For July our partnership reached out to Russia, in collaboration with PEN Moscow Centre! August followed with a collaboration with PEN Canada, September with PEN Venezuela and October with Croatian PEN, and our partner for November is PEN Wales/Cymru!
We are very grateful to PEN Wales/Cymru for agreeing and arranging for our young writers works to be published and shared among their networks.
Ilkyaz’s new Inıtatıve “FiveFaces*” is live!
Through “FiveFaces” we aim to reflect through young literature how we have many commonalities amidst our differences and how our common notions can carry various meanings by gathering 500 word insights from five writers living in different parts of Turkey on the same topic.
By choosing through voting, five names out of writers who send short pieces as an answer to our call, we hope to externalise their efforts of gaining insight into realities they observe around them, thereby to establish a literary mosaic of the country’s sceneries from different cities.
We will continue to build transnational bridges by translating these mutual writings into English and provide a window into Turkey for our increasing readers of world citizens.
Due to both our capacity and in order to avoid a rush on these efforts, this coagulation will not be subjected to a monthly deadline. The first word of choice is “BAKKAL” the translation of which is: “A very common grocery store set up in every other street in Turkey that would be familiar with the residents and often run a tab for them. Varying in size, the shop is generally much smaller than a supermarket. The word can also be used to indicate the person who is the owner of or in charge of the shop.” We proudly present our first five writers and their writings below!
If you haven’t yet had a chance to read, you can reach September’s writings here.
Don’t forget to check out our writers under the age of 15, in “15-“, our archive of stories from everyday lives in “Human Portraits” and renown writer’s reading suggestions to young writers!
You can follow our new blog posts, Spotify music list and new submissions on the mainpage of our website.
Serdar Topaloğlu – Şairin Sustuğu Yerden / From Where the Poet Is Sushes
Another leaf falls off my tree of life
I wipe your silhouette from the mirror of my eyes
Traces of your lipstick, bloodstains on my lapel, persistent pomegranate on my lips
Like castles of sand rising from seashores
My shivering, unraveled at each wave
About the author:I was born in Samsun on the 31st July 1997. I graduated from Kocaeli Deniz Yıldızları Anadolu Technical High School. I am continuing my studies at Ondokuz Mayıs University Health Management Department. I’ve served as a text editor at Nüsgü Literary Magazine and as editor of Babylon Poetry City Magazine. My poems have been and is contuniung to be published in such magazines and fanzines as Nüsgü, Lirik, Sin Edebiyat, Tmolos, Babylon, Edebiyat Nöbeti etc..
Seda Karıncaoğlu – Rengi Küllere / Colour to Ashes
I watched those passing by
Those paused to rest
I met many heroes
And many cowards too…They all touched my life exactly at the point I expected it.
I waited…
Ashamed to name all this time a life
With a suitcase I stuffed separations in
I waited…
About the author: I was born in Adana, 1984. I am a student at the last grade in Anadolu Openeducation Faculty, Sociology department. I protect my inner world from the rigid reality outside by writing poetry and stories, and sometimes get a chance to face that reality too. So long as letters and notes exist I believe we can reach places that seem as far as unreachable.
Bilgehan Aydın- Ressam / Painter
Painter, I am not a good daydreamer
The shadows of things I overestimated
Always turn out barren
Anyways I paint unweathered clouds
From time to time
A windy, rainy, burgundy forest
The meerkat becomes the king
And the grasshopper a grand vizier
Only I laugh at this
And my sister.
About the author: Bilgehan Aydın was born in Bursa on 22 August 1996. He began highschool at Bursa Atatürk Anadolu and graduated from the open highschool. After studying at Trakya University Psychological Counseling department and Adnan Menderes University Psychology department, he dropped out from both. Currently he is continuing his studies at İstanbul University Radio, Television and Cinema department.
