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A Talk with Nedim Gürsel

Samuel Fischer Visiting Professor Guest at Institut Français in Berlin on 15 February

№ 028/2012 from Feb 13, 2012

On Wednesday, February 15, 2012, the Turkish writer Nedim Gürsel, who is currently a Samuel Fischer Visiting Professor, will be giving a reading and participating in a discussion at the Institut Français in Berlin. His discussion partner will be Timour Muhidine, a writer and translator who was born in Kuwait. Gursel will talk to him about his latest novel, Daughters of Allah, due to be published in April by Suhrkamp. The book caused a stir in Turkey and Gursel was accused of denigrating the religious values the people. Criminal proceedings were set in motion against him. The discussion will be moderated by Susanne Stemmler, the director of the section on literature, society, and academics at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. The reading and discussion will be in German and French. It is public, and admission is free.

Nedim Gürsel was born in Turkey in 1951. Along with Orhan Pamuk and Yasar Kemal he is one of the most important contemporary writers of Turkey. Gursel has lived for many years in Paris, where he teaches Turkish literature at the Sorbonne University. During the current fall/winter semester he is the Samuel Fischer Visiting Professorat the Institute for Comparative Literature at Freie Universität Berlin.

Gursel first became known for his short story collection A Summer without End, which was published in 1976 and which won him won the highest literary award in Turkey, the Turkish Academy Award. His first novel, The Conqueror, followed in 1997 and attracted considerable international attention.

The Samuel Fischer Visiting Professorship was established in 1998 at the Institute for Comparative Literature at Freie Universität. Is was set up jointly by S. Fischer Verlag, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Freie Universität Berlin, and the events forum of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck. So far, renowned authors such as Nobel Kenzaburô Ôe, Marlene Streeruwitz, Feridun Zaimoglu, Etgar Keret, Alberto Manguel, Yann Martel, Raoul Schrott, Richard Powers, Daniel Kehlmann, and Adam Thirlwell have held the Samuel Fischer Visiting Professorship.

Time and Place

  • Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
  • Institut Français Berlin, Kurfürstendamm 211, 10719 Berlin

Further Information

Christine Laule, Veranstaltungsforum der Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH, Tel.: +49 (0)30 / 27871813, Email: christine.laule@vf-holtzbrinck.de

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