Nobel winner recounts tumultuous writing career

Orhan Pamuk, this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, spoke about his personal experiences as an author and the importance of freedom of expression at the kickoff of “Strange Times, My Dear, A Freedom-to-Write Literary Festival” Tuesday in a packed Salomon 101.

Pamuk, a Turkish author, was one of a handful of authors and literary activists participating in a roundtable discussion that preceded a conversation with Pamuk moderated by Robert Coover, adjunct professor of literary arts and director of the International Writers Project, which sponsored the event.

The festival, which runs until Friday, is sponsored by the Program in Literary Arts and the Watson Institute for International Studies and includes lectures, readings and an Iranian film festival.

Each year, the IWP awards a fellowship to one writer who is unable to practice free expression in his or her own country and sponsors a festival to increase awareness of the situation in the IWP Fellow’s homeland. This year’s fellow is Iranian novelist Shahryar Mandanipour.

Full Article, Hannah Furst, Brown Daily Herald, here