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A pandemic, crumbling empire and new nationhood are the backdrop for Orhan Pamuk's latest novel Nights of the Plague. He talks to Rana Mitter about the historical basis for his novel. They're joined by historian and ´óÏó´«Ã½/AHRC New Generation Thinker Michael Talbot and literary scholar Keya Anjaria.

Some of the books they recommend at the end of the conversation are
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar (1901 – 1962) whose The Time Regulation Institute and A Mind at Peace have been published in English by Penguin
Halide Edib Adıvar (1884 – 1964) whose memoirs have been published in English
Yasher Kemal (1923 – 2015) author of Mehmet My Hawk
Orhan Kemal - the pen name of Turkish novelist Mehmet Raşit Öğütçü (1914 - 1970) whose books describe the life of the poor in Turkey
OÄŸuz Atay (1934 - 1977) a pioneer of the modern novel whose The Disconnected has become a best-seller
Latife Tekin (1957 - )
and the film-maker Yılmaz Güney (1937 - 1984)

Producer Luke Mulhall

You can find more conversations about Turkish history on the Free Thinking website list of past programmes:
Michael Talbot discussed aspects of the Ottoman empire with Alev Scott /programmes/m0000qj7
Orhan Pamuk compared notes with Edmund de Waal /programmes/b06cb0hz
Jeremy Seal and Ecce Temelkuran discussed Adnam Menderes and populism /programmes/m000s9hq
Elif Shafak discussed her novel 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World /programmes/m00066qd