Tag: book fair

  • Interview: Turkish Granta

    Interview: Turkish Granta

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    This coming week will see the launch of the first issue of Turkish Granta, themed Identity, just in time for the London Book Fair, which will have Turkey as its Market Focus for 2013. The issue is composed half of translations from the archive of the English language edition – including Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis and Urvashi Butalia – and half of new work by Turkish writers. Here, online editor Ted Hodgkinson spoke to editor of Granta Turkiye, Berrak Gocer, about the strong showing of women writers in the issue, why Turkish identity is particularly complex and cosmopolitan and why the LBF matters for Turkish writers.

    TH: How did you first discover the magazine?

    BG: I came upon Granta when I was an undergraduate living in New York towards the end of 2000’s. It was also around that time that I discovered the Cabinet magazine, so it was a very enriching time for me, culturally.

    You’ve had pieces by Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie from our archive translated for this issue. As we near the launch of Best of Young British Novelists 4, how much did that first in the series, which featured them both, put those writers on the map in Turkey?

    That sort of direct and immediate response to international literary developments has become stronger here in the last decade or so. But of course, the more an author was featured and mentioned in prestigious magazines such as Granta, the more prominent he/she became in Turkey also. I could also add that Salman Rushdie has always been a topic of discussion with the infamous commotion surrounding The Satanic Verses. I’m sorry to say that only two Martin Amis titles are currently available in Turkish; we are hoping that the first issue of Granta Turkey will introduce him to a wider readership.

    There are some very strong pieces by female authors – Urvashi Butalia, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Tahmima Anam – in this issue. Was that a conscious decision or did you realise afterwards that they were all by women?

    I hadn’t actually realized that; but now that you mention it, our Turkish pieces include a lot of female authors as well. As you can tell, this was not a conscious decision, but perhaps we felt that women had a stronger voice, or just something more fresh to say when it came to the topic of Identity.

    Do the pieces by Turkish authors in the issue reflect a shared idea of Turkish identity? Or do they disrupt the possibility of having only one viewpoint?

    Again, your question helped me realize how different the concept of ‘identity’ is in Turkey. It is such a complex and dynamic issue. Leaving roles such as being a parent, an employee, a woman, a senior citizen etc. aside, when we talk about ethnic identity here, it is not that of a Turk, but rather that of all the Kurds, Armenians, Rûms, Circassians, Turks and other ethnic groups that live on this land that is today called the Republic of Turkey. I believe we have captured this cosmopolitanism rather well in our first issue. The writings, when they came together, made it very clear that there will always be a new approach to the issue of identity.

    What do you hope will come from Turkey being the focus of the London Book Fair this year?

    Half of the titles published in Turkey each year are translations – so Turkish publishers always had a working relationship with foreign agencies and publishers. But that relationship has taken another dimension, again in the last decade or so, with the rise of literary agencies and with publishing houses becoming more eager to see their authors published internationally. Turkish works, especially literary ones are today being published in a variety of languages. I think Turkey being the market focus of the LBF this year will enhance, and hopefully speed up that development.

    What is the theme of the next Turkish Granta?

    We will decide upon our next theme right after the London Book Fair, but currently we are toying around with the relation between authority and poverty – so it will be something along those lines. ■

    via Interview: Turkish Granta | New Writing | Granta Magazine.

  • Turkey’s Publishing Industry: Market Briefing | Digital Book World

    Turkey’s Publishing Industry: Market Briefing | Digital Book World

    Summary: The Turkish publishing market is steadily developing thanks to many factors: growth in population; lengthening of compulsory primary education to eight years, increase in the GNP, a variety of books becoming more available with the improved distribution network and the development of publishing technologies. In the last decade there has been a 300 percent increase in the number of published books with around 43,190 titles released in 2011 according to the Turkish Ministry of Culture. In 2011, the book-publishing sector reached a sales volume of 1.5 billion dollars.

    fft85_mf924931The main market opportunities for U.S. publishers are in the imported books segment, which is calculated around $80 million. In addition, many international book titles are translated into Turkish, providing royalty payments to publishers. E-books are expected to quickly become an important market segment as well, with an annual growth rate of 120% since their first introduction into Turkey in 2010.

    Market Entry: The direct imports of books into Turkey are typically handled by one of Turkey’s major book importers, sales agents, bookstore chains or on-line book stores. For translated books, cooperating with a Turkish publishing house or literary and copyright agency, which represents foreign publishers’ titles, would provide the easiest access to the market. Ideally, a partner should have experience in translations and an established distribution network. The publishing business of Turkey is based in Istanbul.

    Turkish publishers frequently participate in major international book fairs in Europe, such as the Frankfurt Book Fair, London Book Fair, and Bologna Children’s Book Fair. These fairs provide opportunities to meet with Turkish publishers for possible cooperation.

    Current Market Trends: In one of the largest educational projects in the world, the Ministry of Education in Turkey has initiated the FATIH (Movement to Increase Opportunities and Technology) Project in 2010 aiming to provide tablet computers to all K-12 students, to install smart boards in every classroom and to digitize every textbook. The project, with an expected cost of 10 billion dollars, is due for completion by the end of 2015 and will serve 17.5 million K-12 students. This project is expected to bring about huge changes in the publishing market and develop the e-book segment.

    Turkish publishers initially had minimal interest in e-books, believing the market was not ready and worrying about the negative effects for published books. Turkey’s major online bookstore Idefixe first introduced Turkish e-books into the market in April 2010. Currently this is the fastest growing market segment (120% annually); in 2011 fifty Turkish publishing houses offered 1,314 titles in e-book format.

    The internet is also growing in importance as a sales channel. Both international (amazon.com) and national (idefix.com, kitapyurdu.com, dr.com.tr) online bookstores are increasing their sales in Turkey.

    Current Demand: Turkey does not have a body that tracks sales in the publishing market. However the Turkish Publishers Association estimates total book sales in 2011 reached $1.5 billion with 43,190 book titles. 30-35% of the book titles are translations and about 95% of them are translated from English.

    The Turkish market can be divided into the segments of educational books (textbooks, supplementary books), cultural publications (fiction and non-fiction titles such as novels, hobby books etc), academic books (university and professional publications) and imported books (foreign language books). All the market segments are experiencing growth. About 31 percent of the books sold are cultural publications and 54 percent of the market consists of books related to education, language training and academic study.

    Barriers: Piracy continues to be a major barrier for the publishing sector in Turkey. Turkish Publishers Association states that the market size would be 30 percent larger if the piracy of books could be controlled. According to Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (revised in 2004), piracy is considered a public offense although enforcement of the law is weak. In 2011, law enforcement agencies conducted large-scale raiding operations against printing houses suspected of producing pirated books and seized 2 million pirated school books, which demonstrates the severity of the problem.

    Trade Events: The International Istanbul Book Fair has been organized since 1982 and is the largest book fair in Turkey backed by the Turkish Publishers Association. The fair mainly targets the public, with 450 thousand attendees buying books from over 600 publishers.

    For more information on selling to Turkey, please contact Patricia.Molinaro@trade.gov

    Source: U.S. Commercial Service, www.export.gov/turkey

    via Turkey’s Publishing Industry: Market Briefing | Digital Book World.

  • Iran runs pavilion at Istanbul Book Fair

    Iran runs pavilion at Istanbul Book Fair

    n00154590 bThe CEO of Iran’s Institute for Cultural Exhibitions announced Iran’s decision to attend the 31st Istanbul International Book Fair which began on Saturday.

    IBNA: Near 600 exhibitors from 30 countries of the world run stances at the book fair, said Mohammad Azimi in an interview with IBNA.

    As he said, the institute showcases 400 titles at the book fair this year. The titles cover various issues like Iranology, poetry, fiction, calligraphy, arts, Persian language, children and adolescents, the Prophet, philosophy, history and Sacred Defense.

    He went on to say that building cultural interactions and introducing the Islamic Iran’s rich culture and civilization to the world are two of the chief goals of the institute to attend the book fair in Istanbul.

    Elsewhere in his interview, Azimi underscored the mutual talk sessions with Turkish figures given the vast cultural commonalities between Iran and Turkey.

    He further expressed hope that the institute would move towards materialization of Iran’s cultural goals by attending at international book fairs and cultural exhibitions.

    The opens on Saturday, November 17, 2012 and will wrap up next Sunday November 25.

    via Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) – Iran runs pavilion at Istanbul Book Fair.