Antioch as a Metaphor – Ways of Losing a City 15.07.23 in Berlin, Lettrétage

The event aims to explore the allure of lost, destroyed, and vanished cities across different cultures and time periods. It will be an evening filled with evocative literary readings that capture the essence of these forgotten, destroyed, and desecrated areas, transporting the audience to the haunting landscapes of a necropolis. Whether it’s through exile, the aftermath of an earthquake, a lost paradise, or an inferno, the texts delve into the various forms of losing a city, seeking to answer burning questions such as: How do cities persist within the bodies of those in exile? How do cities continue to echo in a Wasteland?

The event will feature a conversation between Aslı Erdoğan and Çağla Arıbal, along with readings from Erdoğan's book titled THE STONE BUILDING AND OTHER HOUSES, which has been translated into German as REQUIEM FÜR EINE VERLORENE STADT.

Aslı Erdoğan, born in 1967 in Istanbul, is one of the most prominent writers and columnists in Turkey and a global symbol of resistance against arbitrary rule in her homeland. Her literary works, including THE CITY WITH THE RED CLOAK and THE STONE BUILDING AND OTHER HOUSES, have been translated into over 20 languages. Erdoğan's work has been recognized with numerous awards: in 2010, she received the Sait Faik Prize, the most prestigious literary award in Turkey; in 2017, she was awarded the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize; and in 2018, she received the Prix Simone de Beauvoir. In August 2016, following the failed military coup in Turkey, Aslı Erdoğan was arrested along with 22 other journalists and held in prison for several months. She currently lives in exile in Germany.

Sam Gilchrist Hall holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of London and he is currently Postdoctoral Fellow in Experimental Humanities at the Central European University, Vienna teaching Dante, Shakespeare, Emily Dickenson, Joyce, Kafka, and Beckett. His first novella, INSIDE VIRGIL CAINE, explores the life of an individual undergoing a health-crisis, an individual who is entirely narrated by his friends, lovers, and passing acquaintances.

Tracy Fuad, born in 1989 in Minneapolis, currently resides in Berlin. Her first poetry collection, ABOUT:BLANK (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021), was selected by Claudia Rankine as the winner of the 2020 Donald Hall Prize. Her works have been featured in publications such as "The Paris Review," "POETRY Magazine," and "Yale Review," among others, and have been translated into Spanish and Kurdish.

The event is produced and moderated by the writer Çağla Arıbal.