ÇEVRE HIGHLIGHTS - 25.SAYI

33 OCAK 2024 21st Book Festival: Ahmet ÜMİT Interview Interviewed By: Damla GÜLÜNAY, Eda TEK What do you attribute the high level of interest in Inspector Nevzat’s character to? Are there any similarities between you and the character Nevzat? I don’t know why he is loved so much. In fact, many detective novelists create a character. I didn’t want to do that at first, and I didn’t do it in my first novel either. For example, I didn’t use the character in “Sis ve Gece” again. I didn’t have such an idea, but we received an offer from a newspaper to write a detective story. I accepted and while writing, I said, “Let there be a character,” and I named him Nevzat. Later, I also liked Nevzat a lot. I don’t know if I have anything in common with Nevzat, but he must carry something from me for sure. How did you realize your interest and curiosity in writing? I noticed it by chance. I never had the thought of becoming a writer. At the age of twenty-two, I randomly wrote a story. By sheer coincidence, this story was published in a magazine printed in forty different languages. That’s when I got excited. After that, I realized that I really love writing. However, there are two events before this that support it. The first one is reading a lot of books; during my high school years, I had read almost all the world classics. The second is my mother. Apparently, my mother has a storytelling vein, and I inherited this talent from her, although I realized it later. When I became a writer and wondered where this comes from, I suddenly noticed it. For those who want to write, reading alone is not enough; knowing philosophy and a foreign language is also necessary. In addition to these, it is essential to be interested in other branches of art such as cinema, theater, music, and painting, as well as life itself. However, if you know all of these and constantly increase your knowledge, then you can write. Because you need a subject to write about; otherwise, you’ll find yourself repeating after a while. In the structure of your works such as “Patasana,” “Ninatta’s Bracelet,” and “Lost Gods Land,” history and archaeology hold a very significant place. Recently, you also received an award from the German Archaeological Institute. How did your interest in archaeology and history begin? How did it make you feel to receive an award from a different field than literature? We take pride in our history, but we boast of an incomplete history. The geography we live in has a tremendous history. So, I decided to combine history and murder. I don’t enjoy writing about murder, but when done differently, I get bored. Humans are creatures who get bored. Writing books like this pleases me because I get bored. This award is certainly very important and precious to me. You have many works; do you have a particular work that you enjoyed writing the most, one that stands out especially? I enjoyed writing many of them, but one work holds a special place for me, and that is “Masal Masal İçinde” (A Tale Within Tales). Because it is a tale I heard from my mother, and I developed it into a story. My mother is no longer here. So, when you read it, my mother comes back to life. Now, this book is being read not only in Turkey but also in many places and languages, which is very precious to me. Thanks to this book, my mother’s voice is heard in many parts of the world. What is the most important advice you can give to young readers? I would recommend to readers to discover new authors. Of course, at the end of the day, you will choose a favorite author, like saying Kafka or Orhan Pamuk for me. This is a personal choice. But at every stage, discovering new authors is a valuable thing. We will wait for a favorite author to release a new book, but in the meantime, it is important to explore other writers. Reading is a kind of journey. How did your interest in detective stories begin? If you didn’t write detective stories, what genre would you write? My interest in detective stories didn’t begin; I started writing detective stories. During my early youth, politics had a significant influence. Suddenly, I found myself immersed in that politics. Adrenaline was always present in my life due to such a lifestyle, and I am also an adventurous person. That’s howmy writing in the detective genre emerged from this.