'Yes, I look for trouble and wrote East-West themed novels but my understanding of East and West is not such that sees one as better or worse - one that I like more or less,' he stressed.

When asked about themes such as Western and Eastern civilizations in his books, Pamuk said that although cultures were the sources that inspired writers, he 'hates' views that saw one identity as superior to others. Set in 16th century Istanbul, My Name is Red tells its story from the different perspectives of a myriad of characters, including a gold coin, the color red and some corpses. The book sold around 5 million copies around the world, according to Pamuk's publisher, Yapı Kredi Culture Arts and Publishing.Īccording to Yapi Kredi, Pamuk described the book as his 'most colorful and optimistic novel.' My Name is Red was published in 1998 and translated into English three years later, as well as over 50 languages since then. He added that the title of his novel had originally been 'Love at first sight' when he first began writing it roughly 25 years ago.

I was writing a contemporary novel using old stories, and wanted them to fall in love at first sight.'

Noting how he was inspired by classical texts when he began writing his novel, the novelist said: 'But in the classical texts, Shirin falls in love with Husrev when she sees his miniature for the third time. “In my case, it is beginning of a novel,' he added. 'It is important to tell a story by looking at a miniature, and that a miniature is the beginning of a story.' “This miniature is important to me,' Pamuk said.

Istanbul native Pamuk began his speech by projecting a miniature depicting Husrev and Shirin, a 12th-century Persian love story by poet Nizami Ganjavi.Ī miniature is an art form of the medieval period that realistically portrayed events while adhering to the traditional rules of Islamic art, as Islam bans figuration. The book's editors, Erkan Irmak and Feride Cicekoglu, who also contributed with two articles, accompanied Pamuk during the panel discussion. Pamuk was speaking at a panel discussion on the newly-published, Writings on My Name is Red, a book combining 21 articles from various critics and writers as well as an interview with the Turkish author. Turkey’s Nobel-winning author Orhan Pamuk met a packed Istanbul crowd on Tuesday as his widely acclaimed book, My Name is Red, turned 21.

My name is red author