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Turkey: A vibrant literary scene - but publishers need courage Andrew Franklliin Opiiniion - LBF Thursday, 11th April 2013 A booming economy, great bookshops and a public hungry to read, writes Andrew Franklin. Turkey is the perfect choice for Market Focus. Sometimes one wonders how "market focus" countries are chosen. Sometimes there have been countries with no credible literary tradition and precious little trade with the UK. But with Turkey there can be no such doubts. It has an incredibly lively literary scene and a booming book trade - it is the perfect choice for 2013. First off, unlike moribund Europe and the stagnant UK (thanks for nothing, George Osborne), the Turkish economy is booming. Last year it grew by almost nine per cent, and it is budgeted to grow by nearly the same again this year. These are the sorts of rates we are used to in China or India, but publishers and exporters have all too often gazed further east, ignoring Turkey. The English-language market alone is worth US$80 million. With such economic growth, the book trade is far more optimistic than in the UK. Agents, booksellers and publishers are all talking it up. How unlike here. The Tüyup Istanbul Book Fair, for example, held every year in November, is incredibly vibrant, with over 500 registered Turkish publishing organisations and aisles solid with visitors. The energy and enthusiasm of the public, who flock in to buy books by the shopping bag-load, put the London Book Fair to shame. It's a remarkable fair: it's international with, in November 2012, a particularly strong Dutch representation (the Netherlands was the market focus country), British visitors and a good smattering of publishers from all over Europe, the Far East, and even one or two from the States. There are all the usual business meetings but, on top, a huge public appetite for books and literary events. And this being a Turkish market, deals are done and people walk away with three-for-twos and BOGOFs, and are generally persuaded to buy lots of books. And Istanbul has great bookshops. The Robinson Crusoe Book Store (right) on Istiklal Caddesi, the main shopping street (think Oxford Street and Bond Street together), competes with the finest anywhere in the world with a collection of international literature in English and Turkish that would put most British booksellers to shame. Istanbul is one of the world's great cultural centres; outside - even in the capital, Ankara - publishers say it is not so easy. Advances and print runs remain small for a country with a population of 75 million: 1,000 copies - as in so many languages around the world - is the standard first www.bookbrunch.co.uk Design by: BDS Digital © BookBrunch Ltd. printing for most novels and trade non-fiction, though authors like Elif Shafak (Penguin) are huge bestsellers. She regularly sells 30,000 to 100,000 copies of her books for her Turkish publisher. The same is true for more mass-market writers not translated into English. Ebooks are just beginning in Turkish, though without Amazon and with only limited iPad ownership, they have yet to make much headway. Most books are not available as ebooks, but publishers know the ebook revolution will happen and are preparing for it. A huge education programme, FATIH, may mark the tipping point, particularly for educational and academic publishers. Turkish is a challenging language for most Europeans. There are few Turkish speakers in British publishing; finding readers and translators is tough, and until recently little support was available. But the British Council and TEDA - the Turkish equivalent - have been doing an amazing job bringing Turkish and British publishers and agents together, and translation grants are now available from TEDA, which is particularly active. Turkish agents are also tireless, and Amy Spangler, who set up the AnatoliaLit Agency in 2005, and Nermin Mollaogau, who co-founded the Kalem Literary Agency, are especially impressive. Nermin is also the presiding genius of the first literary festival in Turkey, the Tampimar Literary Festival in Istanbul, now an annual fixture. Both will be highly visible at the London Book Fair. It's easy to paint a picture of sweetness and light with growing sales, booming translations and a strong literary scene, but it's also vital to remember the oppressive human rights regime of the Turkish state, which continues to prosecute writers and publishers for infringement of statutes that make it illegal to "defame the state" or write of the Armenia genocide of 1915. At the Istanbul Book Fair in 2012 the British publishers there were amazed by the bravery of the president of the Turkish Publishers' Association in publicly speaking up for prosecuted and imprisoned writers and publishers in front of the cameras and the culture minister. Business may be pretty good in Turkey, but the best of the publishers have to show courage and bravery to do their work that the rest of us can only admire wholeheartedly. Andrew Franklin is founder and Managing Director of Profile Books Source article: https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/article- detail/turkey-a-vibrant-literary-scene-but-publishers-need- courage www.bookbrunch.co.uk Design by: BDS Digital © BookBrunch Ltd..

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