Why Kahramana?
A contributor to forthcoming sci-fi anthology Iraq+100 (Comma Press) reveals the meaning behind the title and implication of their story.
Middle East
Middle East – PEN Transmissions
Publishers’ translation highlights 2015
Halt your book purchases: PEN Atlas has everything you need
Why I write what I write?
Farnoosh Moshiri details the tragic betrayal of the revolution in Iran
Art and Culture from the Frontline: In the hope that Syria Speaks even more!
Syrian journalist and short story writer Rasha Abbas interrogates the role of art and literature in conflict
No more trips to the beach, no more ice cream in Gaza
Ahmed Masoud writes about his son Zino and his trips to the beach in Gaza
Life in War
Nayrouz Qarmout follows her short story for PEN Atlas with a gripping diary piece from the heart of the conflict in Gaza
Who wants to kill a million?
To inaugurate the publication of Syria Speaks, which will be touring UK bookshops, universities, refugee centres and schools, co-editor Malu Halasa writes for PEN Atlas about the uprising, the bravery and black humour of the activists, and how a satirical cartoon and finger puppets inspired the collection
The Greatest Turkish Novel?
Kaya Genç discusses the cultural and literary legacy of Hamdi Tanpınar whose 1961 novel 'The Time Regulation Institute' was published this year as a Penguin Classic.
PEN Atlas Q&A: Otto Dov Kulka
PEN Atlas talks to Otto Dov Kulka, author of Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death
Syria – the betrayed uprising
Samar Yazbek, journalist, author and winner of an English PEN Writers in Translation award, turns our attention back to Syria, the cynicism of the regime, the influence of outside powers, and how these combine at a great cost to the people.
PEN Atlas: literary dispatches from Turkey
Maureen Freely introduces an exclusive new e-book from PEN Atlas, collecting some of the best journalism, memoir, essays and dispatches from Turkey, at a moment when the country is poised in the middle of great changes, both political and literary
Publishers’ highlights in 2014: part 1
Chase away those stormy blues with a new book for the new year.
Living by the pen
What is the cost of going on the payroll for a writer in Turkey?
Yule love these books in translation – 2013
Want some expert advice on what to read in translation? Then look no further. Top writers, literary scouts, critics and festival directors recommend books to give - and devour - during the festive season. Enjoy!
A literature in search of its language
Ciwanmerd Kulek charts the ongoing struggle for the Kurdish language, and whether being a language that is now more written than spoken threatens it in new and troubling ways
PEN Atlas Q&A: Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the Jan Michalski Prize 2013
Following his recent award of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi answers questions from Tasja Dorkofikis for PEN Atlas, charting the works, influences and world-view of Iran’s most important living writer.
On Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the Jan Michalski Prize
Sahar Delijani charts the career of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, winner of the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize, and how his work has forged the conscience of his nation. Sahar’s PEN Atlas piece precedes an exclusive Q&A with Mahmoud Dowlatabadi.
Notes from a Safe House in Area A
Selma Dabbagh returns to PEN Atlas, and to Ramallah, to stay at the Guest House of the Qattan Foundation. In this dispatch, she writes about the physical and bureaucratic walls that divide the territory, records the sounds of the Old City, and explores the impact of the Oslo Peace Accords on Palestinian literature
On #OccupyGezi, the Turkish Government prefers conspiracy theories to engagement
Our man in Berkhamsted
Kaya Genç introduces PEN Atlas readers to Şavkar Altınel: travel writer, inspiration for a famous literary character, translator of famous British poets and resident of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. But above all Altınel is a poet in his own right, comparable with Larkin for his 'dry lyricism' and nostalgia.
A wind blows from Gezi Park
This week PEN Atlas returns to Turkey for an update on Gezi Park. Müge İplikçi reflects on recent events and draws parallels between the treatment of protestors and the ongoing stifling of Turkish writers, who work in a system in which profit is the only validation.
On the sublimation of authority
Hakan Günday unpacks the notion of authority and censorship, and considers its effects on civilians
The Walnut Tree of Gezi Park
Following recent events, PEN Atlas is running an additional dispatch this week from Turkey. Kaya Genç writes for us about Nâzım Hikmet Ran, whose poem 'The Walnut Tree' has taken on a prophetic turn and an inspirational one in light of Gezi Park
The Sounds of Istanbul
In the latest of our literary dispatches from Turkey, Mario Levi contemplates the sounds of the city he grew up in, and the stories that lie behind them for those willing to listen
Taking a stand
Oray Egin reports on the continuing protests in Turkey, why they began in Gezi Park and what the writers of the country owe to those marching on the streets
Turning up the volume
Yasmine El Rashidi, contributor to the PEN-award-winning title Writing Revolution: The Voices from Tunis to Damascus, tells PEN Atlas about growing up learning English: exile and community, being alienated and finding her voice
Translation, Revolution, and Pedagogy
Following her appearance at the Literary Translation Centre for London Book Fair 2013, Samia Mehrez writes about working collaboratively on the book Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir, which uses multiple perspectives to translate the linguistic and cultural meanings of the momentous events in her country
The Silk Road
In the run-up to London Book Fair 2013, for which Turkey is the market focus, Murathan Mungan writes for PEN Atlas about how East and West view each other, what Henry James could have learnt from Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil and the building of a new Tower of Babel
What is Official? Turkish writing, from state discourse to civil literature
As part of our ongoing series of PEN Atlas dispatches from Turkey, Kaya Genç describes the struggle for the soul of his country's literature between state officials and independent creative writers
Literature rises in the East
Ayfer Tunç writes for PEN Atlas about the importance of looking beyond the clichés so that Turkish literature is seen in the context of World Literature.
Written in blood: The beginnings of a new Syrian society
In a moving piece for PEN Atlas, Khaled Khalifa writes about the hypocrisy of the intelligentsia, the context of the Syrian revolution, and the task of imagining the world that will come after.
Geography of Secrets
Nihad Sirees, author of the PEN award-winning The Silence and the Roar, writes for PEN Atlas about his memories of growing up in Aleppo, Syria, and the way his sensual memories of the past now struggle with the violence and horror of the present
PEN Atlas Q&A – Hassan Blasim, author of The Iraqi Christ
PEN Atlas editor Tasja Dorkofikis interviews Hassan Blasim about his new collection of short stories, The Iraqi Christ, winner of a 2012 Writers in Translation award, his experience of censorship, and the importance of cinema for his work
Dispatch from Syria: Capturing the Truth
Following on from her piece for the English PEN magazine, Samar Yazbek describes the dangerous, often fatal struggle of capturing the truth of the Syrian revolution
Selma Dabbagh reports from the Palestine Festival of Literature: Part 3
In her third PEN Atlas despatch, British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh reflects on Palfest, dealing with criticism, and what freedom feels like
Selma Dabbagh reports from the Palestine Festival of Literature: Part 2
In this second PEN Atlas despatch from British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh, we are taken deeper into Gaza; into the streets, into darkness.
Selma Dabbagh reports from the Palestine Festival of Literature: Part 1
This week the PEN Atlas hears from British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh. In the first despatch, Selma describes her journey into Palestine; the sights, sounds and people she encounters en route.
