ICORN

Aslı Erdoğan was the fifth literary guest of Krakow as part of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) program. The Turkish writer, who was threatened with arrest in Turkey, hence in need for shelter and suitable conditions for creative work, was invited to our city and offered a residency at the Villa Decius. The presence of the writer invigorated our literary landscape in Krakow and beyond. Erdoğan participated in numerous interviews and talks, including as part of the Conrad Festival, for Polish Radio Channel 2 and “Good Morning TVN” tv programme.

The work of writer Erdoğan, unknown in Poland and banned in Turkey, has been award-winning. Her journalistic work enjoys great popularity, however it is also accompanied by numerous political controversies. The ICORN scholar has published over 200 articles (many of which are devoted to criticism of politicians and government), both for Turkish and international media. Erdoğan’s texts have been translated into many languages, including French, Danish, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Bosnian, German and Bulgarian. Her prose was transformed for the stage in Milan and even adapted for the screen in France. The writer’s high rank is evident as the magazine “Lire” placed her on the list of 50 writers of the future, recognising her work as a contemporary classics.

Since Krakow’s accession into the ICORN network in 2011, our ICORN residency holders were: Ossetian writer Maria Amelie; Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer; Iranian writer and editor Mostafa Zamani; and Belarusian writer, translator and human rights activist Lawon Barszczeuski.


More at: www.icorn.org