Award ceremony of Tarabya Translation Prize, organised annually as part of German-Turkish Cultural Partnership Project and Ernst Reuter Initiative for Dialogue and Mutual Understanding, was hosted by Berlin Yunus Emre Enstitüsü on November 30^th 2015.

Wolfgang Riemann who translated numerous Turkish books into German and holds promotional events for Turkish writers in various German cities, was deemed worthy of one month-long Working Scholarship in Istanbul offered by collaboration of Yunus Emre Enstitüsü and Robert Bosch Foundation.

Wolfgang Riemann with pioneering and major works in his field as “The Image of Modern Turkish Literature in Germany” and “Life in Bitter Homeland-Turkish Literature in Germany” is at the same time the name who translated books by writers as Halit Ziya, Ömer Seyfettin, Ahmet Haşim, Haldun Taner, Ferit Edgü, Tezer Özlü who are cornerstones in Turkish literature.

Wolfgang Riemann who raised an awareness for Turkish literature in Germany and greatly contributed in promotion of modern Turkish literature with 15 books he collected and translated from Turkish literature, visited Yunus Emre Enstitüsü President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş in his office.

Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş conversed with Wolfgang Riemann on translated literature and modern Turkish literature, and presented the painting titled Masters of Turkish Poetry to the honorary guest. Reimann presented Enstitü President Ateş with a signed book he translated with the title Modern Turkish Stories published in 2004 by DTV publications, a most prominent publishing house in Germany and is a collection of stories from Turkish literature.

Following the meeting, award-winning translator made an interview with Yunus Emre Enstitüsü's culture-arts magazine .tr and shared his opinions on Turkish literature in Germany and modern Turkish literature. Riemann also addressing the image of Turkish literature in Germany as well as translated literature, marked that works by major figures as Halit Ziya and Oğuz Atay were recently translated into German however translators and publication houses must make more efforts to promote Turkish literature more competently. 

Following the interview, Riemann became an on-air guest in culture-arts show titled “Friend Gathering” on Sound of Turkish Radio station that broadcasts within the Enstitü and relayed how he met with Turkish language, what he experienced throughout the month he stayed in Istanbul as part of the award he had received, and his impressions. Riemann expressed that the Istanbul in the books he translated and the Istanbul he experienced are quite similar which pleased him and he once more felt the atmosphere in the novels and stories throughout his time in Istanbul.