Upcoming Meetings

Next meeting: Monday 17 February 2025, 6.30pm

The next session of the Litfest International Fiction Online Book Club will take place at 6.30pm on Monday 17 February 2025 when we will discuss the 2006 Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s My Name Is Red, translated from the Turkish by Erdağ M. Göknar

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE 2006

‘A philosophical thriller constructed around the clash between two views of artistic meaning, which is also a chaasm between two different world civilisation’ Hywel Williams, Guardian

In the late 1590s, the Sultan secretly commissions a great book: a celebration of his life and his empire, to be illuminated by the best artists of the day – in the European manner. At a time of violent fundamentalism, however, this is a dangerous proposition. Even the illustrious artists are not allowed to know for whom they are working. But when one of the miniaturists is murdered, their Master has to seek outside help. Did the dead painter fall victim to professional rivalry, romantic jealousy or religious terror? With the Sultan demanding an answer within three days, perhaps the clue lies somewhere in the half-finished pictures . . .

Orhan Pamuk is one of the world’s leading contemporary novelists and in My Name is Red, he has fashioned an unforgettable tale of suspense, and an artful meditation on love and deception.

‘More than many other book I can think of, it captures not just [Istanbul’s] past and present contradictions, but also its terrible, timeless beauty. It’s almost perfect in other words’ Maureen Freely, New Statesman

Author

Orhan Pamuk (b. 1952) is the author of many celebrated books of fiction, nonfiction, and photography, including Snow and The Museum of Innocence (translated into English by Maureen Freeky). In 2003 he won the IMPAC Prize for My Name is Red, and in 2006 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. His most recent book is Nights of Plague (translated into English by Ekin Oklap). His books are published in English by Faber,

Photo: Photo of Orhan Pamuk © Jerry Bauer


Translator

Erdağ M. Göknar is Associate Professor of Turkish in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University and former director of the Duke Middle East Studies Center. He is a scholar of literary and cultural studies and an award-winning translator whose research and publications focus on intersections of literature and politics in Turkey and the Middle East.

Join The Club

To join the Litfest International Fiction Book Club which meets regularly, usually on the third Monday of every month, email Bill Swainson at [email protected]

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