Leyla Erbil – författare

The pioneering debut novel by one of Turkey''s most radical female authors tells the story of an aspiring intellectual in a complex, modernizing country. 

 In English at last: the first novel by a Turkish woman to ever be nominated for the Nobel. A Strange Woman is the story of Nermin, a young woman and aspiring poet growing up in Istanbul. Nermin frequents coffeehouses and underground readings, determined to immerse herself in the creative, anarchist youth culture of Turkey’s capital; however, she is regularly thwarted by her complicated relationship to her parents, members of the old guard who are wary of Nermin’s turn toward secularism. 

In four parts, A Strange Woman narrates the past and present of a Turkish family through the viewpoints of the main characters involved. This rebellious, avant-garde novel tackles sexuality, the unconscious, and psychoanalysis, all through the lens of modernizing 20th-century Turkey. Deep Vellum brings this long-awaited translation of the debut novel by a trailblazing feminist voice to US readers.

The pioneering debut novel by one of Turkey’s most radical authors, originally published in the 1970s, tells the story of an aspiring intellectual in a complex, modernizing country.Erbil’s groundbreaking coming-of-age novel, nominated for the Nobel upon original release, follows a young woman and aspiring poet in Turkey. Nermin frequents Istanbul’s coffeehouses and underground readings, but is torn between the creative, anarchist youth culture of Turkey’s capital and her parents, members of the old cultural guard who are wary of Nermin’s turn toward secularism. In four parts, A Strange Woman narrates the past and present of a complicated Turkish family through the eyes of each of its members. This rebellious, avant-garde novel tackles sexuality, psychology, and history through the lens of a modernizing 20th-century Turkey. Deep Vellum brings this long-awaited translation of the debut novel by a trailblazing feminist voice to US readers.

An experimental collection of "proems" from poet and author Leylâ Erbil, the first Turkish woman toever be nominated for the Nobel.In this remarkable novel-in-verse, a young woman named Lahzen comes of age grappling with a culture gripped by interethnic tension. Bearing witness to the mutilation of a Kurdish journalist, the political imprisonment of her lover, and the violence of the man her widowed mother has taken up with, Lahzen reaches back into the past, searching for the root of this evil.From the Byzantine Empire to the twentieth-century Turkey of Erbil’s experience, What Remains searches urgently for a way to escape these recurrent cycles of suffering, while preserving hope in the smallest acts of kindness. Now available for the first time in translation, with an introduction by Ayten Tartici, What Remains is a fearless, deeply felt collection from one of the most influential Turkish writers in recent history.

An experimental collection of proems from poet and author Leyl Erbil, the first Turkish woman to ever be nominated for the Nobel.These poems recount the history and present of the Turkish state, from the Byzantine Empire through the twentieth-century Turkey of Erbil's experience. Now available for the first time in translation, What Remains is a fearless, deeply felt collection from one of the most influential Turkish writers in recent history.

Die neunzehnjährige Studentin Nermin erfährt am eigenen Leib, was es bedeutet, erwachsen zu werden in einer Gesellschaft, die ihr ein traditionelles Frauenbild entgegenhält. Die Mutter keift, wenn sie zu spät nach Hause kommt, und verlangt Keuschheit bis zur Hochzeit. Also muss sie lügen und sich verstecken, wenn sie, wie all ihre Freundinnen, zu den Tanzpartys geht, sich verliebt, Liebeserklärungen entgegennimmt und abwehrt. Die Erkundung ihres Ichs geht einher mit der Erforschung der Stadt. In den Istanbuler Cafés und Künstlerkneipen sucht sie Inspiration und Offenheit. Doch die etablierten Literaten verweigern ihr als Frau die intellektuelle Anerkennung. Sie schließt sich den linken Gruppen an. Doch bald spürt sie, die Hinwendung zum »Volk« ist abstrakt, einengend und trügerisch. Aber Nermin gibt die Hoffnung auf eine humanere Welt nicht auf. Dieser Erstling brach durch seine offene Form und seine skandalöse Respektlosigkeit alle Tabus und wurde zum Skandal – aber auch zum Aufbruch der modernen Frauenliteratur in der Türkei.