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Orhan Pamuk's Snow Featured in Cologne, Germany

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  • Orhan Pamuk's Snow Featured in Cologne, Germany

    PRESS RELEASE
    November 5, 2006
    Koelner - Stadt-Anzeiger, and Cologne's Literaturhaus
    Contact: Beth Broussalian
    Grant Writing & Public Relations
    Tel: 949-929-7211
    E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

    EVENING OF LITERATURE IN COLOGNE, GERMANY FEATURES ORHAN PAMUK'S NOVEL "SNOW"
    Pamuk's Acclaimed Novel to be Read in Five Languages at Original Performance


    COLOGNE, GERMANY - Excerpts from the internationally acclaimed novel,
    "Snow," by Orhan Pamuk, will be read in five languages at an original
    performance taking place in Cologne, Germany on Friday, November 10,
    2006. The readings will be performed by Albrecht Kieser in German;
    Hasmik Hagopian in Armenian; Hulya Engin in Turkish; Adnan Dindar in
    Kurdish; and Harutuin Harutuinian in Russian. Krikor Manugian, a
    local performing artist, is the event's organizer and moderator.
    "Snow" is the most recent book by Pamuk who is the 2006 recipient of
    the Nobel Prize for Literature.

    This event is part of a grand, two-week literary festival that
    celebrates Pamuk's "Snow" as Cologne's 2006 `Book for the City.' The
    festival is organized by one of Germany's largest newpapers, Koelner
    Stadt-Anzeiger, and Cologne's Literaturhaus.

    Set in the Turkish city of Kars in the 1990s, "Snow" is epic in
    scope. The story encapsulates many of the political and cultural
    tensions of modern Turkey into a few snowy days in a small Turkish
    town and successfully combines humor, social commentary, mysticism,
    and a deep sympathy with its characters. Pamuk's literary style
    possesses the intensity and fantasy characteristic of the major
    writers of our time.

    `My inspiration for organizing this five-language, original
    performance is to show that historically Kars has not always been a
    city of Turkish people. Quite the contrary, large populations of
    Armenians, Russians and Kurds inhabited Kars before World War I.
    With this performance, I am using art to create a dialogue among the
    people who have inhabited Kars over the centuries. In my opinion,
    there are no rules for initiating dialogue. By promoting cultural
    awareness, I am drawing attention to the history of the Armenian
    people without pointing a finger at the Turks and saying that they
    are guilty [of Genocide],' explains Manugian.

    `I was born in Istanbul and am certain that if my parents hadn't
    moved our family to Germany when I was still young, I would be either
    dead or in prison. Instead, I have grown up with the basic human
    rights all people deserve. In Germany, I do not have to hide my
    ethnicity, instead I can organize events like the literary evening
    and celebrate my heritage,' continues Manugian.

    `We should not forget our history, but I believe it is wrong to
    remain in the past. One of the first words that I learned in
    Armenian was `abaka,' meaning future. I have made it my life's
    ambition to work toward a better future for the Armenian people,'
    Manugian concludes.

    Although Pamuk is the world's most famous contemporary Turkish
    writer, in his homeland the 54-year old novelist has stirred up
    nationalists against him and has been forced to answer to criminal
    charges of insulting the nation's `Turkishness.' The charges against
    Pamuk came after remarks he made about the Armenian Genocide in an
    interview in 2005 with the Swiss publication Das Magazin, a weekly
    supplement to a number of Swiss daily newspapers. In the interview,
    Pamuk stated, "Thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were
    killed in these lands and nobody dares to talk about it."

    Pamuk said that after the Swiss interview was published, he was
    subjected to a hate campaign that forced him to flee the country. He
    returned later in 2005, however, to face the charges against him. In
    an interview with BBC News, he said he wanted to defend freedom of
    speech, which was Turkey's only hope for coming to terms with its
    history: "What happened to the Ottoman Armenians in 1915 was a major
    thing that was hidden from the Turkish nation; it was a taboo. But we
    have to be able to talk about the past."

    In addition to winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, Pamuk has
    recently been awarded the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book
    Trade, Le Prix Méditerranée étranger, Le Prix Medicis, and the
    Ricardo Huch Prize. Pamuk is also an honorary member of American
    Academy of Arts and Letters. In addition to "Snow," Pamuk has
    written "The White Castle," "The Black Book, New Life," and "My Name
    is Red." To date, his novels have been translated into 40 languages.

    The literary evening on November 10 will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the
    Lew Kopelew Forum, Neumarkt 18a, 50 667 Cologne. It will include a
    slide show presentation featuring photos of the Turkish city of Kars.
    Traditional music of the five different nations represented at the
    reading will be performed. The event will conclude with a book
    signing by the five readers and Manugian, who very recently changed
    his name from Kirkor Pehlivan to take the surname of his paternal
    grandfather, a freedom fighter in the Armenian Genocide with the
    famous General Antranig Ozanian.

    To reach the Kopelew Forum directly, please call +49 221 257 6767.
    For additional information about this extraordinary event, please
    contact [email protected].

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