İzmir's new book fair İZKİTAP, organized by İZFAŞ and SNS Fuarcılık, hosted by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, continues with signing days, events and conversations. Tens of thousands of İzmir residents from all age groups showed great interest in the first two days of the fair, which will be open for 10 days. İZKİTAP - İzmir Book Fair opened its doors to visitors last Friday. In the first two days; Tens of thousands of people from İzmir, including children, young people, students and adults, visited İZKİTAP. İZELMAN A.Ş. and Publishers Cooperative (YAYKOOP), which brings together authors and publishers with book lovers and is open to visitors between 10:00 and 20:00, the visitors visited the stands of nearly 250 publishing houses, institutions and non-governmental organizations as well as participated in the interviews. İZKİTAP Fair hosted important guests on its second day as well. The writers and journalists participating in the fair attracted great attention from the people of İzmir with their interviews and book signing events.

Nedim Gürsel talked about his 55-year literary journey

The guest of honor of the fair, writer and academician Nedim Gürsel, who teaches Türkiye literature at Sorbonne University, met with the visitors in an interview moderated by Engin Topuz. Nedim Gürsel has shared both his 55-year literary journey and the one who met the reader for the first time in İZKİTAP, from Kafka to Camus, from Dostoyevsky to Tolstoy, from Sadık Hidayet to Borges, from Samuel Beckett to Anatolian saints, from Greek mythology to holy books. He also talked about his latest book, “Memento Mori - Death Is On My Mind”, in which he traces death, sometimes based on his own experiences.

Stating that his journeys from childhood to adulthood, from his education life to his job are also reflected in his literary journey, he said, “When I was 16 years old, while I was studying at Galatasaray High School, my first story was published in New Horizons by Journey Vedat Günyol. 55th year in literature since the first story. In this story, I have a journey to İstanbul. Travels later became the main source of inspiration for my books and determined my destiny.I traveled the world for both education and work, those journeys have been published in a book. Literature is also an inner journey. Imaginary journeys made by means of imagination are also factors and elements that feed literature. As I got older, productivity increased, I have more than 50 books, collected stories and travel writings etc. The number is not important, it is important that it reaches the reader. I am very happy to be here, to meet you. I would like to thank the organizers of the İZKİTAP fair for giving me this honor.”

Journalist and Politician Altan Öymen and Journalist and Writer Mine Özbek hosted an interview titled "From Past to Present". Altan Öymen said, “The republic for us is not just about the declaration of the republic. As Türkiye, as the people of Türkiye, the Republic is our most valuable asset. "For Atatürk and his comrades in arms, the first goal in the country, which was largely occupied in 1919, is to fight to save the country from occupation, and the second goal is the war for the country to reach the level of education and modern civilization," he said.

Emphasizing the importance of the letter revolution in the direction of education and modernization given in this process, Öymen said, "The fact that we use Latin letters in the modern world is the most important revolution that Atatürk left us to rise to the level of contemporary civilizations."

Mine Özbek said, “I think the most important power of this country is the youth, they are so strong, they are so bright that they know Atatürk, the Republic and democracy so well. I am very hopeful. In its 100th year, the Republic will be enlightened by the youth and women of this country. I am proud of them,” he said.

Signing days

Many writers met with their readers at the signing day at the fair. Authors such as Ahmet Ümit, Canan Tan, Cenap Güven, Ceyhun İrgil, Ali Ekber Yıldırım, Ozan Bingöl, Ümit Zileli, Bülent Emrah Parlak both talked to their readers and signed their books. Book lovers from Izmir formed long queues for the signing day of Ahmet Ümit's new book, A Love Story, which is out in the fairy tale genre. Ümit, who has been signing his books for about 5 hours without interruption, shared on his social media account, “A legendary crowd welcomed me in İzmir. This is not a book signing, but a real literary rally. Thank you, my beautiful readers…” and described the signing day as a literary rally.

Additional expeditions to facilitate access to the fair

İzmir Metropolitan Municipality has created special transportation lines to İZKİTAP in order to facilitate the transportation of the people of İzmir to fuarizmir. Except for Üçyol Metro-Fair İzmir numbered 92, Gaziemir Neighborhood Garage-Fair İzmir numbered 610, Fahrettin Altay-Fair İzmir numbered 650 and Lausanne Square-Fair İzmir numbered 540 lines, Bornova Metro Station and Şirinyer are running every 25 minutes without connecting to İZBAN. Students from schools will also be able to reach İZKİTAP by shuttles.