Dilek Mayatürk in Jena: Bilingual Poetry as a Poetic Experience
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When Language Becomes a Poetic Border Zone
On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Dilek Mayatürk will present her new bilingual poetry collection When You Smile, a Red Apple Falls Apart in Slices at the Ernst-Abbe-Library in Jena. The reading begins at 7:30 PM and leads into a poetic world where profound emotions, resistant thinking, and the creative power of language are closely interconnected.
Bilingual Poetry as an Art Form
Dilek Mayatürk writes her poems first in Turkish and then reworks them in German. This results in not traditional translations, but two distinct versions of the same poem. Turkish and German languages engage in an intense dialogue that does not smooth out differences but rather makes them visible as poetic potential.
It is precisely through this method that the literary quality of the new collection lies: Mayatürk explores the boundaries of both languages and transforms multilingualism into a precise form of perception. Her poetry inquires how identity, memory, and emotion take shape through language.
Between Great Emotion and Linguistic Resilience
When You Smile, a Red Apple Falls Apart in Slices connects strong imagery with philosophical depth. Thinking appears as action, love as resistance, and language as a constantly changing space. The poems navigate between intimacy and societal observation, between sensual imagery and intellectual sharpness.
Mayatürk's poetic narratives stand in the current flow of contemporary poetry while simultaneously developing a distinctive voice. Her writing takes translation not only as a linguistic process but also as an existential experience: The human being appears as someone mediating between languages, memories, and cultural spaces.
Dilek Mayatürk: A Distinctive Voice of Contemporary Poetry
Dilek Mayatürk was born in 1986 in Istanbul and lives as a poet in Berlin. She studied sociology in Istanbul and Klagenfurt and also worked as a documentary film producer and author. Her publications include Cesaret Koleksiyonu, Brache, Bir Daha Yok Çiçeği, and Neden Olmasın.
For her literary work, she has received several awards and scholarships, including recognition from the Cahit-Sıtkı-Tarancı Prize, the Gürhan-Uçkan Poetry Prize, and the third prize of the Kemal-Özer Poetry Prize. Additionally, her work has been supported by residencies from the Berlin Senate for Culture, the Tarabya Cultural Academy, the Prussian Trust Foundation, Schloss Wiepersdorf, and the Villa Massimo.
A Special Reading Atmosphere in Jena
The Ernst-Abbe-Library will transform that evening into a resonance space for an author encounter, where sound, voice, and meaning come together immediately. The literary experience thrives on the tension between two language versions and offers insights into the work of an author who perceives translation as a creative process.
Literature enthusiasts can expect a focused reading on multilingualism, love, resistance, and the fluid nature of poetic expression. Those wishing to discover contemporary poetry, German-Turkish literature, and linguistic artistry will experience a unique voice of the present here.
Conclusion: Poetry as an Encounter Between Two Languages
Dilek Mayatürk's reading combines literary precision with sensual linguistic artistry and cultural dialogue. The reading marathon on October 21, 2026, offers the opportunity to experience the poems from When You Smile, a Red Apple Falls Apart in Slices in the immediate atmosphere of an author reading. An evening for anyone who not only wants to read poetry but experience it as a living encounter.
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