SilencE
BY ENGIN AKYÜREK
Translated from Turkish by
Doina L. Kovalik and Atiye Erden
United States and Canada only
Information for retailers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1981 in Ankara, Turkey, Engin Akyürek first came to fame in 2004 when he won the Turkiye’nin Yildizlari (Turkey's Star) TV competition. Since then, his credits include five feature films and nine TV series. Throughout his career, Akyürek has always had a love of writing. He continues to express himself by writing short stories for the Kafasına Göre literary magazine.
About the translators
Doina L. Kovalik holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and TESOL, obtained from Oklahoma State University. At present, she is an associate professor at Winston-Salem State University, one of the constituents of the University of North Carolina system. Kovalik’s undergraduate studies had English and French languages and literatures as their focus, and despite her selection of applied linguistics as her field of expertise her love for literature has never ended. It is in that light that she has decided to bring linguistics and literature together by translating fiction by young authors penning their work in languages other than English, thereby enhancing American readership’s exposure to new cultural perspectives and new ways of approaching human nature.
Atiye Erden was born and raised in Turkiye. She is a chemical engineer, but her love of reading is not limited to technical books. She has translated various scientific papers and brochures. This book is her first translation of short stories. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.
The story behind translating the stories
Since its release in 2018, Turkish movie and T.V. star Engin Akyürek’s short story collection Silence has been published into several languages. Now Silence has been translated into English, bringing this stunning work to new audiences.
Silence take us to Turkey and a time when people got to know people by looking in their eyes, to touch people by talking to them, and to understand each other by listening. The times when the kids were still kids, when they started a ball game as soon as they found an empty field, when neighbors stopped by uninvited, holidays were celebrated all together, the happiness and the sorrow shared by all. Akyürek brings us both the richness of Turkish day-to-day life but also the universal shared between all cultures—the need for community, connection, and of love.
Supporting people both in Turkey and in the United States
To bring this translation of Silence to the US and Canada, Flexible Press is excited to partner with Friends of Engin Akyürek, a global organization dedicated to community action, advocacy, and meaningful social change in the spirit of Mr. Akyürek. All proceeds from book sales at the Friends of Engin Akyürek will All sale proceeds benefit the people of Türkiye.
Akyürek’s royalties are donated to the Darüşşafaka Society in Turkey, which works to create a better future for needy, talented students with one or no parents.
In the U.S., a portion of the sales of each book will go to the Aziz and Gwen Sancar Foundation and the Sancar Turkish Cultural and Community Center is a Chapel Hill, North Carolina, nonprofit that offers educational, cultural and social programs and events dedicated to increasing understanding of Turkey, its people, customs, and history.
“These stories by Akyurek brings the reader both the richness of Turkish day-to-day life but also the universal shared between all cultures — the need for community, connection, and of love.”
“Mind-bending tales from Turkish daily life of yesteryear spun delightfully with surprising twists, begging deep reflection.”
“Silence by Engin Akyürek is a collection of first-person narrated snippets of non-linear memories, at times triggered by almost Proust-like reactions. What makes these stories remarkable is that they manage to create the same reactions on the part of the reader, who is immersed in the stories and lives of its characters by Akyürek’s masterful story telling as well as crafted and detailed scene depictions. Everything is painted with an aura of “mellow” as hypnotizing as the purr of the main character’s cat, which makes the stories pure joy to read.”