Literature festival to welcome writers of the world

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Writer Alberto Manguel will visit five Turkish cities and his impressions will be published in a book.

The 5th edition of the Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival (ITEF) will be held this year between Oct. 30 and Nov. 10 on the theme of “City and Game.” Sixty-one writers from 15 countries will join the event.

ITEF 2013, whose main sponsor is the Vehbi Koç Foundation, will focus on the following themes: The relationship of reader and author in the triangle of boredom, game, and literature; the areas that literature expands to and influences; the inseparable union of literary fiction and game; and the ancient roots of storytelling which are undeniably human. These and many other such topics will be addressed by the invited authors.

Festival goes to five cities

According to a written statement, the festival will bring together readers with the writers in Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Erzurum and Konya.

The festival will feature readings, sectorial meetings, events with children and literature talks, aiming to introduce Turkish literature to the international literature circles.

The opening speech of the festival will be made by Mario Levi and Oya Baydar and renowned international names like Andrea Winkler, Thomas Stangl, Teresa Praauer are expected to attend the festival.

Within the scope of the festival, writer Alberto Manguel will make two-day visits to five Turkish cities for two days and his impressions will be published in a book. The name of this project is “Tanpınar’ın İzinde Beş Şehir” (Five Cities in the Footsteps of Tanpınar).

The scope of the project includes visits of important libraries, universities, book shops and cultural centres in the featured cities.

A book will also be published

In the scope of the festival, the “ITEF 2013- City and Game” anthology book will also be published. This year, ITEF will be cooperating with Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education to include the festival’s foreign guests in the latter’s “Writers in Schools” program. The ITEF authors will meet students in the nine boroughs of Istanbul. They will be assigned to schools according to the students’ age group and over the course of the festival will meet thousands of primary and secondary students at over 100 events.

For further information about the festival, please visit www.itef.com.tr