Ferit Orhan Pamuk (b.1952) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, and academic. The recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, he is celebrated for works that probe Turkish identity and history. He is one of Turkey’s most prominent novelists and best-selling authors, with thirteen million books sold in sixty-three languages.
Born and educated in Istanbul, Pamuk has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University and the University of Iowa. His first novel Cevdet Bey ve ogullari (1982; Cevdet Bey and His Sons,) a three-generation family chronicle published when he was 26, won critical acclaim. His international breakthrough came with Beyaz kale (1985; The White Castle, 1990,) a complex post-modern historical novel.
Pamuk’s work is notable for its depth, innovation, and densely allusive character. Other novels include Kara kitap (1990; The Black Book, 1994,) Kar (2002; Snow, 2004,) and Benim adim kirmizi (1998; My Name Is Red, 2001.)
Pamuk was the first writer in the Muslim world to condemn the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. In 2005, he was charged by the Turkish government with “denigrating Turkishness” after he publicly referred to the Armenian genocide (1915–17,) the facts of which remain highly contested and inflammatory in Turkey. The case was initially dropped, but in 2011, Pamuk was ordered to compensate the six plaintiffs for insulting their honor.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Orhan Pamuk
Inspiration is the act of drawing the chair up to the writing table.
—Orhan Pamuk
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