MSLU Holds a Meet-the-Artist Event with Turkish Author Mehmet Hakki Yazici

On September 28 as part of the "Translation Environment" project the University held a meet-the artist event with Turkish writer Mehmet Hakkı Yazıcı. The event was sponsored by the Center for Turkish Language and Culture and the Research Laboratory for Comparative Literature and Artistic Anthropology (LitVedLab).

Another reason for the popularity of the Turkish writer's name with MSLU is that his stories published in the "Foreign Literature" magazine have been translated by Mikhail Sharov, an expert in Oriental Studies and Turkish language, a senior lecturer of the Translation and Interpreting Faculty and Director of the Turkish Language and Culture Center.

After the welcoming speech by the Faculty Dean Ekaterina Pokholkova, Mikhail Sharov told the audience about his work on the translations and highlighted the main features of the writer's art.

And finally, the MSLU students were addressed by Mr. Yazici himself. He spoke about his life, work and views on art, and the impact that Russian classical literature, especially Anton Chekhov's writings had on his creative development. The working language of the meeting was Turkish, and the linguistic support was provided by Aleksander Sarkisian, a graduate of the Turkish department of the T&I Faculty, a lecturer and interpreter. The event was moderated by Ekaterina Zharova, also a graduate of the Turkish department.

The meeting culminated in a discussion led by Militsa Nikolich, a LitVedLab Junior Research Fellow. The MSLU students asked the guest numerous questions about the writer’s literary work and his impressions of Moscow and Muscovites (M. H. Yazici has been living in the capital for twelve years now). The author of the most interesting question was awarded with an August issue of the "Foreign Literature" magazine.