Latife Tekin Interview and Book Signing at Translation Studies Congress

On June 28, 2024, the renowned author Latife Tekin participated as an invited speaker at the 1st National Translation Studies Congress organized by the Department of English Translation and Interpreting at İzmir University of Economics. The event featured a highly engaging Q&A session moderated by our university's Publishing Director, Gülce Başer. During the discussion, Tekin touched on various topics such as the author-translator relationship, reader reception and interpretation, and the impact her books have had on other authors and readers. She provided striking examples related to intertextuality, the significance of translation, and how it can take different forms and draw various responses in different languages and cultures.
Regarding translation, Tekin noted that it is a highly demanding task and that a very special bond can be formed between an author and a translator. She expressed her empathy and compassion for translators, having personally witnessed the challenges they face. She emphasized that passionate translators, like her English translator Saliha Paker, are crucial in conveying an author's work to the world in the most appropriate way.
Tekin also discussed the often divergent interpretations between what an author intends and how readers perceive a work. She shared that realizing this disparity allowed her to write more freely. When she wrote her first book, "Dear Shameless Death," in her twenties, she believed there was only one version of it. However, after it was translated into English and published with an introduction by John Berger in England, she realized that each reader created their own unique version of the book, leading her to understand that there are as many versions of "Dear Shameless Death" as there are readers. When asked about the influence of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" on her work, she said that the book opened up a whole new perspective for her, making her feel she could write anything. She mentioned that parallels between her books and others could stem from universal human emotions.
Despite being frequently labeled as a "magical realist" in academic writings, Tekin does not identify with this label fits. Instead, she suggested that "political writer" might be a more accurate description. Recalling a past interview where she described herself as a "translator," she explained that this was because she had decided to become the voice of the poor and the voiceless, feeling compelled to create a language for those who did not have one. When asked about the love between readers and writers, she acknowledged that readers can have intense affection for an author, which can later turn to dislike depending on what the author writes next. She stressed the importance of writers expressing themselves authentically, warning that pandering to hidden demands for reader-specific works could compromise an author's integrity.
The highly captivating session concluded with Prof. Dr. Nihal Yetkin Karakoç, Head of the Department of English Translation and Interpreting and Chair of the Symposium Organizing Committee, thanking Tekin and presenting her with a plaque and the book Aegean Herbs from our university's publications. The outpouring of love for Tekin continued into the book signing session immediately following the interview, where she chatted with her readers, signed books, and posed for photos.