Literature by Turkish Language Writers Exiled South Africa Writing Human Rights Worlds Apart: Mothers & Daughters the Other Imaginings Reviews
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exiledexiled ink ink! Literature by Turkish Language Writers Exiled South Africa Writing Human Rights Worlds Apart: Mothers & Daughters The Other Imaginings Reviews Summer 2010 ISSUE 13 price £4 Editorial he 2010 London Book Fair focused on South Africa. Due Contents: to the fallout of ash from the Icelandic volcano, many Literature by Turkish Language Writers writers from South Africa and other parts of the world 3 Ignorant People are Easier to Rule Ayhan Mimtas wereT unable to attend. However, we were not so affected and contributions have flowed in from many countries. In the section, 3 What’s That? Fatma Durmush Exiled South Africa, we have Beverley Naidoo’s graphic and 4 The Mid-wife Aydin Mehmet-Ali chilling poem, ‘Collateral Damage’ and a revealing glimpse of 5 An Afternoon in the Park of Frankfurt on Main Ergin Günçe life’s struggles in Philippa Rees’s story ‘Looking for Lucas’. The 5 Many Years Ago Moris Farhi Worlds Apart: Mothers and Daughters section was stimulated 6 Be Longing: Deniz Soezen Rachel Garfield by an event created by Exiled Writers Ink for the Wisewords 8 Expatriates Alev Adil Festival. Here, Shereen Pandit articulates a poignant tribute to her remarkable mother. From the section, Literature by Turkish 8 The Kid from Sulukule Janna Eliot language writers from Kurdistan, Cyprus and Turkey, the notion 10 Child of Exile Munzer Çem of a uniform identity can be interrogated. Exiled South Africa In the section, Encounter with the Other, Ivy Vernon analyses 11 Thoughts on South Africans Living Abroad Catherine Tchitembo the exilic space in which she identifies with her ex-compatriots and, despite her efforts to integrate, becomes aware that an ac- 12 Collateral Damage Beverley Naidoo cent is ‘the émigré’s fall’. Almog Behar, Language of the Other 13 Tiekiedraai Marion Baraitser section, writes of being plagued by the authorities for having 14 In Our Time Beverley Naidoo a foreign accent, the accent of his Iraqi grandparents. He sup- 15 Looking for Lucas Philippa Rees presses the layer of that hidden language lying deep within him. 17 Voices of Exile Tendai Mwanaka He does not feel that he truly belongs and so constructs himself 17 On the Writing of Happy Valley Shelley Weiner and is constructed as the Other. The themes explored in Writing 18 Interview with Daniel Kunene Fathieh Saudi Human Rights tell of helplessness and resignation in the face of tyranny and also of courage and fortitude. Writing Human Rights 20 Women of Iran 31 years on Rouhi Shafii 22 Interview with Esmail Khoi David Clark Worlds Apart: Mothers and Daughters Co-Editors 23 New Year’s Baklava Alma Verija Jennifer Langer 24 Let Me Go Rahila Khalwa Esther Lipton 25 Relationships Shanta Acharya 26 Promises: Memories of My Mother Shereen Pandit Editorial Committee 27 African Largesse Philippa Rees Muhamed T. Ali 27 Your Brown Dress Choman Hardi David Clark 27 About Our Mother Alev Adil Lynette Craig (Poetry Editor) 28 My Mother, the Refugee, London 1939 Jennifer Langer Ziba Karbassi 28 Mama Loschen Jude Rosen Rahila Khalwa 28 Mother Earth Sahra Mohammed Fariba Marzban 28 Dark Eyes Yolande M Deane Fathieh Saudi Encounter with the other Editorial Office 29 To The Wolves Ivy Vernon Exiled Writers Ink Ink is published by Exiled Writers 30 Tenancy Rizwan Aktar 31 Hallswelle Road 30 Chopin in Manchester Anna Marie Mickiewitz registered as Charity No. 1097497 London NW11 0DH 30 Defeated but not Broken O. T. Mukozho Tel: +44 (0) 20 8458 1910 Exiled Ink [email protected] exiled ink Language of the other www.exiledwriters.co.uk 31 The Language of the Survivor, the language Survived: Towards a post-exile literature Parham Shahrjerdi Design and Layout 32 Ana min al Yahoud – I’m from the Jews Almog Behar Angel Design.net Imaginings 35 Geniecillos Marisol Tellez Front cover painting by Rebwar Saeed 36 Come in, said the man Shirin Razavian © All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or 36 Face Shirin Razavian reproduced without permission of the publisher. Views expressed in the 37 The Well of Babel Reza Ghassemi magazine are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of this magazine. 37 Dreams and Realities Nahida Izzat ISSN 1744-1498 Reviews 38 Every Year, Every Day, I am Walking Shereen Pandit Subscription: 38 Sonata for Four Hands by Amarjit Chandon Christina Viti £15 for 3 issues to include postage and packing. 38 My Father’s Paradise by Ariel Sabar Jennifer Langer UK costs per issue: £4 plus £1 postage and packing Cheque to be made payable to: Exiled Writers Ink 39 Biographies Literature by Turkish Language Writers This section includes work by Turkish speaking writers from Turkey, Cyprus and Turkey Kurdistan. Romany Turks are also represented. What’s That? Ignorant People are Fatma Durmush Easier to Rule When 8 I found a mark Ayhan Mimtas On me a stain So deep, Like many of their colleagues, Turkish writers have to overcome many That parents looked obstacles to reach the minimal number of readers awaiting their books. Tur- With hatred at me. key once was a country where books were treated with the greatest respect. They did not know Knowledge and science were contained in books and reading meant you What to do with me. would become wise. My precociousness, My asking questions The iron fist of the Army, especially after the 1980 Military Coup, changed many views and shifted the culture of its people towards fear and illiteracy. Which frightened them. Books were the reason for arrest and torture. Therefore many books were Did incest happen? buried or more likely, burnt by their owners. Mainly democrat and socialist Well no because we were writers were targeted although, because of its secular system, religious fun- All playacting damentalists were also banned. Tragically the military government opened Happy families even when the gates to a mild form of Islam. It was in this period just after 1980, that a Rocked the boat record number of Koranic courses and Islamic colleges opened. They as- Clinched fists but we were sumed that this would stop the progressive movements before they could Such good actors that erupt again. Within a few years, reading started to signify confusion and the Unconsciously we might hate notion was that it would lead to dangerous ideas which could be bad for you! But consciously Image: Nasim Sadeg This long-term policy of turning people into ignorant and careless individuals What nice manners naturally caused the dramatic decline of book sales. The publishers are more What sweet delight interested in the business prospect which meant that authors were required to write on subjects not harmful to the system. Nowadays this means to writ- Misery is seeing no reflection ing within the boundaries of mild Islam. Thanks to this long-term programme In loved ones eyes people have become incurious creatures. It is very sad that the rich literature When they turn round of Turkey is turning into a dull and one-centred business. When you try to meet their gaze. Misery is being told over and over To elucidate, here are some facts. There are only about 1400 libraries in Tur- What bad deeds you are to avoid key compared to the 4900 in England. Half of England’s population is member of a public library whereas in Turkey its only 6%. Taking into account the fact When you don’t know. that England’s population is less than Turkey’s, a conclusion can be reached. Misery is seeing futility In 1996 approximately 130,000 books were sold in Turkey but five years later Hopelessness written it had dropped by nearly a tenth to 13,860. The number of books borrowed With laughter. from libraries also halved within this period. Between 2000 and 2005 about Misery is when strangers 230 books were censored and removed from the shelves. Become mums, dads In contrast to reading, it is a different situation in terms of TV viewing. We But your own flesh as a nation are second in the world after the US, which is a shame really! Want to kill you. Misery is when trust is over Turkish (or Kurdish) writers have paid a high price for putting their views Comfort is over onto paper. There are still hundreds of books banned in Turkey whilst the au- When your poverty is such thors and publishers await their trials. This banning culture also affects web That strangers shun you. sites and it is a fallacy to believe that the internet can help us out. Meanwhile, there is still reluctance to writing independent books and views, whilst des- Where people look perate and curious readers try by all means to access information and litera- What depths ture. We still have famous, good writers and who are able to win Noble prices. Don’t want to be like her. Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. Our main problem Misery is when life is ignorant and stereotypical publishers. Turkey’s development in the area Closes into who did what of books and reading is similar to other countries’ statistics, but writing and To whom reading will not succumb to darkness. Boundaries will be overcome one way When nothing matters or the other. When you can’t leave Because there’s nowhere To go Because you’ve run away too often. 3 Summer 2010 / exiled ink was so slow. And dark. She kept The Mid-wife thinking of that poor young Aydin Mehmet-Ali woman in labour all on her own in that house… They got the village about four They came to get her in the middle of the night.