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Home > Translation > The World Bookshelf > Books > The Well of Trapped Words

The Well of Trapped Words

A collection of stories by award winning writer, Sema Kaygusuz.

The characters in Sema Kaygusuz’s stories often burn with a conviction only they possess: an old man wakes from a dream one morning with a vision of where water can be found after years of drought; a grandmother claims she regularly entertains a snake in her yard, who tells her stories in a language only she understands; a woman responds to the death of her auntie by insisting she hasn’t really died… Elsewhere, it is a darker secret these characters’ carry, one that can only be revealed through a process of profound metamorphosis – either literally, like the reclusive old man who begins to acquire injuries he claims he’s always had, or in terms of their revealed histories, as their past is peeled away, layer after layer. Blending mysticism and modernity, Kaygusuz’s stories demonstrate why she is regarded as one of the most promising writers in Turkey today.

“With diaphanous, almost transparent language, Kaygusuz transforms each narrative into a dazzling, dream-like folktale. Her incantations seem to whistle around our ears, as if picked up by swirling winds.” – André Clavel in Lire

Author

Sema Kaygusuz

Sema Kaygusuz

Books

The Well of Trapped Words

Sema Kaygusuz is one of Turkey’s leading female writers. Her debut novel, Yere Düsen Dualar (Wine and Gold) won international recognition upon publication in 2006. In 2007, she wrote the screenplay for Yesim Ustaoglu’s film Pandora’nin Kutusu (Pandora’s Box), which won the Golden Shell at the 2008 International Film Festival in San Sebastian. Her first short story collection, Ortadan Yarisindan (In the Middle of the Half, 2007) explored the struggles of characters grappling with disagreeable or concealed aspects of their personalities. The two following collections, Sandik Lekesi (Box Stain) and Doyma Noktasi (Saturation Point), established Sema Kaygusuz as a distinctive voice in the canon of young Turkish literature in the new millennium, which concerns itself increasingly with questions of identity and individuality.

Her novel, Yüzünde Bir Yer (A Spot on Your Face), was inspired by her own grandmother, and deals with the feelings of shame and guilt experienced by someone who survives a massacre. Kaygusuz is a recipient of both the Cevdet-Kudret-Literature Award and the France-Turquie Literary Award.

Translator

Maureen Freely

Maureen Freely

Books

Reckless

The Well of Trapped Words

Maureen Freely is a novelist and journalist who contributes to the Guardian and the Independent. She translated Orhan Pamuk’s recent novels from Turkish into English. She grew up in Turkey and now lives in England.

Published by

Comma Press, 2015
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A collection of stories by award winning writer, Sema Kaygusuz.

The characters in Sema Kaygusuz’s stories often burn with a conviction only they possess: an old man wakes from a dream one morning with a vision of where water can be found after years of drought; a grandmother claims she regularly entertains a snake in her yard, who tells her stories in a language only she understands; a woman responds to the death of her auntie by insisting she hasn’t really died… Elsewhere, it is a darker secret these characters’ carry, one that can only be revealed through a process of profound metamorphosis – either literally, like the reclusive old man who begins to acquire injuries he claims he’s always had, or in terms of their revealed histories, as their past is peeled away, layer after layer. Blending mysticism and modernity, Kaygusuz’s stories demonstrate why she is regarded as one of the most promising writers in Turkey today.

“With diaphanous, almost transparent language, Kaygusuz transforms each narrative into a dazzling, dream-like folktale. Her incantations seem to whistle around our ears, as if picked up by swirling winds.” – André Clavel in Lire

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