Literary critic and writer Cemal Şakar met with Iranian readers in a talk titled "40 Years of Turkish Storytelling" organized by Tehran Yunus Emre Institute (YEI) on November 30, 2022.

Sharing his journey to becoming a writer, Şakar talked about writers and magazines from Turkish literature that influenced his writing life.

Literary critic and writer Cemal Şakar met with Iranian readers in a talk titled "40 Years of Turkish Storytelling" organized by Tehran Yunus Emre Institute (YEI).

At the talk hosted by the Institute on November 30, 2022, Şakar shared his journey to becoming a writer and talked about important writers and magazines from Turkish literature that influenced his writing life.

“EACH AGE CREATES A LANGUAGE THAT SUITS ITS SPIRIT”

Şakar expressed that time and conditions change people’s approaches and that each age creates an age that suits its spirit. He added that he too experiences this change and tries new styles in his works.

Pointing out that each age brings innovations with it, Şakar said: "Somehow we keep up with what the age requires. New trends in literature have to do with the requirements of the times. No one just says ‘Let’s make a new style.’”

He stated that he does not strive for a theme or formality on its own in his works and added that each theme needs to be complemented by formality. He noted: “I do not try to create an artistic formality. The theme you choose forces you to look for a beautiful form. Looking at works we deem bad, we see that either the theme or the form is not quite on par. I try to create this harmony in my work.”

Şakar stated that the multitude of forms in his works is due to the wide range of themes he explores, and that he does not hesitate to use any material he can utilize for better formality.

He mentioned that his stories in the “Turkish Storytelling” Anthology and the ones in his book “The Window” had been translated into Persian, and added that his new book “Shame” would also soon be translated into Persian.

Tehran Yunus Emre Institute Coordinator İbrahim Furkan Özdemir stated that the Institute organized a talk with writer Cemal Şakar on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of his literary life titled "40 Years of Turkish Storytelling".

"IT IS IMPORTANT TO STRENGTHEN THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE READER AND THE WRITER"

Stating that they attach great importance to such events, Özdemir stated: “We had the honor of hosting our esteemed writer at our Institute some years ago. Today we see his books translated into Persian and published. In today's talk, we have once again seen how important it is to bring readers and writers together and to strengthen the bridge between them."

Özdemir added that writer Cemal Şakar conducted translation workshops with students of the Department of Turkology at Allame Tebatebayi University and University of Tehran.

Özdemir added that writer Cemal Şakar conducted translation workshops with students of the Department of Turkology at Allame Tebatebayi University.