'Literature on the Street' project begins in Yeldeğirmeni

The Writers Syndicate of Turkey (TYS) has launched a new initiative that does not limit literature solely to books and halls. Within the scope of the project called "Literature on the Street," the goal is for authors and poets to come together with their neighbors, local shopkeepers, and residents in the neighborhoods where they live. The first meeting of the project took place on Saturday, August 8, at 17:00, on Duatepe Street in the Yeldeğirmeni neighborhood, where poet and author Hatice Nayır has lived for 17 years.

"THE AUTHOR'S FACE IS KNOWN, BUT WHAT THEY DO IS NOT"

Stating that the project was implemented to strengthen the ties between writers and the neighborhoods they live in, TYS Board Member Esra Alkan said, "We said literature is on the street, and we wanted to create a space in front of the homes of our member writers and poets where they can meet with the people living in the neighborhood. The residents, shopkeepers, and neighbors know the author's face and greet them, but they don't know if they are a writer, a poet, a literary figure, or what they do for a living. Therefore, we want to ensure this familiarity and bring our neighborhood residents together with our literary figures, and our literary figures together with the neighborhood. That is why Yeldeğirmeni was a beautiful start."

Conveying that they received a positive response in the neighborhood during the preparation phase of the event, Alkan said, "We printed the posters, stated our intentions, and talked to the shopkeepers starting from the beginning of Yeldeğirmeni. We hung the posters on the windows and walls of the shops that were suitable. Everyone was a little surprised at first, but they liked it very much," she said.

"IF THE NEIGHBORHOOD CANNOT GO TO LITERATURE, LET LITERATURE COME TO THEM"

Stating that there are requests from TYS members for the project to be implemented in different neighborhoods, Alkan said that people from outside Istanbul have also reached out to them. Alkan said, "There were also callers from outside Istanbul asking, 'Is it possible to do this here too?' This means that if we make some progress in Istanbul and it becomes widespread here, we can talk to our local representatives. Because if the neighborhood cannot go to literature, let literature come to them," she said.

Expressing that literature is not just a cultural field but can also touch people's daily lives, Alkan explained the purpose of the project with these words: "Literature and art have the power to beautify sorrow. Our goal is to turn hopelessness into hope. Perhaps that is why we made the streets a companion to literature," she said.

"WRITERS' NAMES ARE GIVEN TO STREETS AFTER THEY DIE"

Poet and author Hatice Nayır, who met with neighborhood residents at the first meeting of the project, said that meeting her neighbors through literature in Yeldeğirmeni, where she has lived for 17 years, was also meaningful for her.

Nayır said, "It is an event aimed at introducing the author to the neighborhood residents. As you can see, a reader was surprised that we live on the same street. In other words, they didn't know that a writer or a poet lived on their street. Generally, writers' names are given to streets after they die. We said let's appear before we die. We wanted it to be such an event. We would be as happy as the level of participation from the neighborhood," she said.