One of Turkey’s most important writers cannot live in the country anymore. She has the same family name as the president, but his regime has depicted her as a terrorist and enemy of the state. She has been translated to about twenty languages and has been awarded prizes in Sweden as well as in other European countries; no fewer than five times in Germany, her current country of residence.

Among Aslı Erdoğan’s work “The Miraculous Collection of Essays” and “Not Even the Silence is Our Own” have so far been available in translation. The latter, consisting of political essays and chronicles, became a best-seller in France and Germany, but led to persecution and critical campaigns against Erdogan in Turkey. In 2016, she was arrested and imprisoned for almost five months, accused, among other things, for terrorist propaganda with the threat of being sentenced to life in prison. In these censored texts, Erdogan discusses the Turkish state’s assault against minorities, its use of torture and other violations of human rights in prisons, its violence against women and threats against freedom of speech. When Erdoğan was released from prison while awaiting trial, she left Turkey. The process against her still went its course for several years. Not until about a year ago was the case finally dropped. 

Erdogan’s novel “Requiem for a Lost City” will now be released in a Swedish translation. It is a tapestry of poetic passages in prose representing memories: of Erdogan’s mother, her friend who was abruptly taken away, her life as an author, the neighborhoods in her birth city and the consequences of her political, feminist and artistic commitment. 

Here Aslı Erdoğan will have a conversation with the journalist Mikael Olsson Al Safandi. 

Language: English
Saturday 25 march, 18.00
Uppsala Stadsteater