Turkish Literature in Translation Reading Group: Wûf by Kemal Varol with translator Dayla Rogers

The Turkish Literature in Translation Reading Group aims to gather those who are interested in Turkish literature at UT together. It meets every month throughout the semester and the discussions are held in English. The meetings are open to the entire UT community, as well as interested individuals outside UT.

In this meeting, the group will discuss Turkish writer Kemal Varol’s Wûf (2014). Wȗf tells the story of Mikasa, a street dog who grows up amidst the conflict between “Northerners” and “Southerners” in the Turkey of the 1990s. Touted as surrealism thanks to its canine narrator, it is utterly realist in its depictions of the horrors of armed conflict, emphasizing the damage done to both soldier and civilian, psychologically and physically, in the name of political ideologies. In Turkey, the novel was awarded multiple prizes, including a journalism association’s peace prize, and was translated thanks to a prestigious PEN/Heim grant. The novel’s English translator, Dayla Rogers, will also be with us to talk about the translation process and the novel itself.