The catalogue “Books from Turkey” consists of a collection of texts ...

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B O O K S F R O M T U R K E Y
A Y S E L Ö Z A K I N
Aysel Özakin studied French Literature in Poitiers and worked as a lecturer
in Istanbul and as a guest lecturer at Frankfurt Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
University. She won two major Turkish literary prizes (Sabahattin Ali and Madaralı).
Her works published in Turkish include novels such as Gurbet Yavrum (My Child
the Foreign Lands, 1975), Alnında Mavi Kuşlar (Blue Birds on Your Forehead, 1978),
Genç Kız ve Ölüm (The Young Girl and Death,1980), Mavi Maske (Blue Mask,1988),
Güzellik Acısı (Pain of Beauty, 2006) and short story books entitled Sessiz Bir
Dayanışma (A Silent Solidarity,1976) and Kanal Boyu (Along the Canal, 1981).
Abroad she received several fellowships and grants, among them Gunter Grass,
Worpswede, Valporariso and Yaddo. Özakin is an author with a multi-layered
literary identity. In her novels and plays, she transcends the notions of culture,
background, relationship and identity.
Foreign rights: Mavi Maske/Blue Mask (German),Gurbet Yavrum/My Child the
Foreign Lands (German), Genç Kız ve Ölüm/The Young Girl and Death (German)
ALNINDA MAVİ KUŞLAR
BLUE BIRDS ON YOUR FOREHEAD
Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Germany, 1989
164 pages, Novel
Translated by Carl Koss
ISBN: 9789944122146
georgina.ozer@yordamkitap.com
This novel examines the ongoing clash
between three forces: individuals aiming
at self-fulfilment, intellectual and
emotional emancipation, the political
activists who give absolute priority to
social and political engagement and the
reactionary forces who want to eliminate
them both. The representatives of these
three ideologies fight for their cause on
a May first celebration in Istanbul which
ends in a massacre mise en scene both
by external and internal dark forces. This
novel has been awarded the Madaralı
Prize in Istanbul and has been highly
acclaimed for creating a lyrical and
political atmosphere.