BORDERS & BELONGING: A reading series with alumni of the Tarabya Cultural Academy
In December 2025, the Tarabya Cultural Academy celebrates the publication of three books written during and following residency stays in Istanbul – and which are now available in Turkish. In Istanbul and beyond, the three authors Dilek Mayatürk, Matthias Göritz and Necati Öziri will present their literary works, which all search for traces across borders and generations.
The Borders & Belonging series brings together three authors who, through their residency in Tarabya and in their writing, follow cross-border traces laid by the generations before them – in the hope of finding answers to the complex questions of belonging and identity. Through readings, discussions, and book launches held between December 11 and 22, 2025 in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, these writers showcase, above and beyond the findings from their journeys of discovery, the vibrancy of the cultural dialogue between Türkiye and Germany.
The Borders & Belonging series opens with a book launch (11/12), a reading and discussion at the International Istanbul Book Fair (13/12), and a reading (14/12) with Matthias Göritz. His novel The Language of the Sun creates a multilayered panorama of the past and the present. The American Lee travels to Istanbul to research the fate of her German-Jewish grandmother in the 1930s. The novel combines stories of exile with the question of how language and memory shape identity. It was translated and published in Turkish for the first time in 2025.
Dilek Mayatürk will present her new poetry collection Neden Olmasın (“Why not”) at a book launch (15/12). Her poems deal with closeness and distance, and how one can find a sense of home living between cultures and languages, within this poetic space that crosses borders geographically, linguistically, and emotionally. .
Necati Öziri will present his novel Baba İzi, newly published in Turkish, at a reading and discussion (20/12). The book tells the story of Arda, who grows up between the worlds of his Turkish-rooted family and German society. In 2023, this powerful work about origins, belonging, and the longing for an absent father was nominated for the German Book Prize.
Through their books and these events, all three authors underscore the importance of the Tarabya Cultural Academy as a place of encounter, dialogue, and creative collaboration between Germany and Türkiye. Since its founding in October 2011, the residency house at the Bosphorus has given more than 200 artists from Germany the opportunity to live and work in Istanbul for several months at a time. The networks established with the Turkish cultural scene during their residencies usually extend far beyond this time. Many alumni return to the Bosphorus for exhibitions, performances and collaborative projects – or for the publication of their books with Turkish publishers.
Dates:
11/12/2025, 18:00h – Matthias Göritz: Book Launch Party at the Gala Galeri
12/12/2025, 18:00h – Dilek Mayatürk: Reading at Boğaziçi University (participation requires prior registration here)
13/12/2025, 14:00h – Matthias Göritz: Reading at the International Istanbul Book Fair
14/12/2025, 16:00h – Matthias Göritz: Reading at Yazmak Atölyesi
15/12/2025, 19:00h – Dilek Mayatürk: Book Launch at Minoa Pera
17/12/2025, 11:00h – Matthias Göritz: Reading at Istanbul University (closed event)
18/12/2025 – Matthias Göritz: Reading at Hacettepe University Ankara (closed event)
20/12/2025, 15:00h – Necati Öziri: Reading & Book Launch at Kadıköy Istanbul Kitapçısı
22/12/2025 – Matthias Göritz: Reading at Ege University İzmir (closed event)