Lasana Sekou’s Caribbean poetry in Turkey
St. Martin author Lasana M. Sekou was invited by the Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival (ITEF), (Oct 31-Nov 3), and the Winternachten Hague International Literary Festival for what amounted to a literary tour of two cities in Turkey, said Jacqueline Sample of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
“Lasana Sekou’s poetry on cultural identity in the Caribbean was welcomed by the public,” said Ton van de Langkruis, director of Winternachten, a partner of the second festival in the 7000-year-old city of Diyarbakir. During his recitals, Turkish translations of the Caribbean author’s poetry and short story selection were projected on screen for the audiences to read. The ITEF, with its theme of “City & Time,” was the first literary conference for the legendary city of Istanbul, according to festival coordinator Nermin Mollaoglu. Sekou recited his poetry and fiction, sat on panels and discussed St. Martin and Caribbean culture, history and politics at Kaktus literary cafe, Mavikum Bookstore and Okan University. He was one of 10 writers and one film producer that participated in a closed-door writers meeting at the Dutch Consulate General in Istanbul, said Sample. The intensive day-long meeting was hosted by Consul General Onno Kervers in the consulate’s palace building and organized by Winternachten. The visiting authors coordinated by Winternachten were Sekou, Frank Westerman (Netherlands), Abdelhey Moudden (Morocco), and Diana Ferrus (South Africa).
Among the Turkish writers at the meeting were Gunduz Vassaf (moderator), Karin Karakaslı of Armenian descent, and Ragıp Zarakolu, who is also a publisher, human rights activist, and former political prisoner, said Sekou. Van de Langkruis and Winternachten editor Muzaffer Gulsen sat in on the writers meeting.
Sekou was the only Caribbean author among the 90 writers from 33 countries at the ITEF. The festival ran concurrently with the city’s book fair, both on the eve of the cultural and tourism bash planned for Istanbul as the EU designated European Capital of Culture in 2010.
The second leg of the literary tour was the International Literature Days (ILD), (Nov 5-7), in Diyarbakir. The Winternachten-Diyarbakir “rendezvous” included Turkish writers and intellectuals mostly from this Kurdish region along with Sekou, Westerman, Moudden, and Ferrus. All of the visiting authors read from their works in their native language.
In a city that is not without recent historical turbulence and through which the biblical Tigris flows, evidence of the some seven civilizations that once ruled the city are still visible in the faces and customs of the people; and by viewing the historic buildings, especially the magnificent city walls linked by 82 black basalt towers, said Sekou.
At the Diyarbakir Anatolian High School recital, students practiced their English by reading aloud from “The Wake,” a WWI-period St. Martin story in Sekou’s book Brotherhood of The Spurs. A copy of Sekou’s critically reviewed The Salt Reaper was presented to English teacher Mustafa Yalcin for the English language collection of the school’s library, said Sample. Both books were published by HNP.
An ILD high point, said Sekou, was the Nov 7 launch and reading in Kurdish from the first Kurdish novel The Kurdish Shepherd by Ereb Semo – now re-published in Turkey for a second time since it first appeared in Yerevan in 1935. Sekou was particularly impressed during a city tour and at the ILD closing ceremony with the dengbêj singers. “It was a cultural honor to meet and hear these men and women who are the ‘houses’ of hundreds of dengbêj songs, passed down from generation to generation,” said Sekou.
“The dengbêj, a lyrical storytelling form of Turkey, is considered an essential part of Kurdish language, culture and history,” said Sekou. In 2002, the Turkish government lifted its ban on Kurdish-language education and media.
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