THE AUTHOR, TRANSLATOR, AND THE PUBLISHER ALL TOGETHER
The author, the translator, and the publisher all came together and chatted about world of literature with students at the event organized by Izmir University of Economics, Department of English Translation and Interpreting. The author Müge İplikçi and Nilgün Dungan, Lecturer at IUE Department of English Translation and Interpreting, who translated the author’s books into English, and Sedat Turhan, owner of Milet Publishing House, who publishes the books and brings them together with the readers, told the students about 3 different aspects of the world of literature.
Müge İplikçi, the author of the books: Kaf Dağı, Civan, Biz Orada Mutluyduk, stated that literature was a harsh road to take. She said:
“Literature brings together people we don’t know about. I initially started as a reader. You need to use experience while you are still young. Understanding people is important for understanding yourself. Literature is the most essential way to be able to think and understand.” İplikçi, who gave advice to the students, also said that the worst enemy lied within oneself and literature was the way to overcome that enemy. “Whatever might happen, claim your life. We were put on this world to understand each other. Everything we avoid turns into an enemy. There is another kind of conflict at the moment. Islamist and non-islamist. But these poles only exist in our head. Some people feed on these poles. We need to talk about peace as much as possible. I wanted to become an author even when I was a child,” stated İplikçi.
‘Names are the most difficult to translate’
Nilgün Dungan, who translates İplikçi’s books into English, said, “I take pleasure in translating the multi structure of Turkish literature into another language. You get to both experience the distinction of this richness and transfer the cultural components. We play with words in Turkish. I am searching for better ways to transfer this richness. I recently translated Müge İplikçi’s novel “Civan” into English. I have difficulty with translating the names as the names were associated directly with the characters”.
