I was invited by the Mayor of Izmir, Mr. Tunç Soyer, to participate in the seventh edition of the International Literature Festival from 15 to 21 September 2023, which was held under the banner “Literature is a Republic”. Known as the ‘pearl of the Aegean’, Izmir (Smyrna in ancient times) is a beautiful metropolis of over 3.5 million inhabitants, the birthplace of the legendary Homer and the great Greek poet Giorgos Seferis, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
It was an invitation that honoured me and made me happy at the same time, it iwas a special edition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, which was attended by about 70 writers from Turkey, North America, Africa, Germany, Italy, North Macedonia, Iran, etc. The events started a week before the arrival of the invited writers, with street performances by the “Street Arts Workshop” troupe, during which brochures with the festival programme have been offered to the people.
The opening of the festival began at the Agora Archeological Site on the evening of September 15, in the presence of Mayor Tunç Soyer and guests.
The next day, September 16, from 2.15-3.15 pm at APIKAM Museum, the organizers have scheduled a dialogue, “Versatility and Artistic Movements in Literature”, between myself and the well-known Turkish poet, translator and visual artist Erkut Tokman. The discussion was focused on my poetry, the novel published in 2019 and dedicated to the island of Ada Kaleh, “The Librarian of Hell” and the new concept I have launched and promoted in contemporary art, archetypal expressionism.
It was the most beautiful and emotional literary event of my life, our dialogue captured the interest of the intellectuals who came to our event. Moderator Erkut Tokman also read in Turkish some poems signed by me and fragments from the novel. I had an extremely warm and passionate audience, many of those present came at the end to congratulate me and take photos with me, led by the director of the festival, the great Turkish poet Haydar Ergülen. The organizers finally gave us olive saplings, and writer Erkut Tokman and I decided to plant them together in the garden of Municipality „Kent” Library in Izmir, as a sign of friendship and collaboration.
On the evening of 16 September, from 18-20, I joined a poetry recital in the APIKAM GARDEN and on Sunday 17 September, from 5.45-7.45 pm, the organisers have planned a new poetry recital at the Youth Theatre: “A World of Poetry”. I was also involved in a Poets’ March, a walk with local and foreign poets, when we visited some of the most famous places in Izmir and wrote poems together. Special thanks to the organisers, especially to the poet and artist Erkut Tokman, the festival coordinator.
The Alchemical City 