Bağlar’s 6th issue is out: “The pen is a responsible witness to the current age”

The writers of the journal Bağlar are again making important contributions to the literary and intellectual field of the Balkans through their texts treating the hopes, despairs, longings, reunions, journeys and arrivals in the region.

The 6^th issue of Bağlar, a prominent journal of Turkish literature in the Balkans, has just been released. In this issue, Bağlar addresses its readers through the famous sentence of the master, Sezai Karakoç: “The pen is a responsible witness to the current age.”  This issue presents a file called “Şahsiyetler”, which can literally be translated as “Personalities”. It also reflects the excitement of young writers in the Balkans who just got their first work published.

In the file “Şahsiyetler”, our writers focus on the personalities who have left an impact on both the socio-cultural life in the Balkans and the former’s own lives. Thus, they have prepared a file offering a survey of the intellectual, artistic and social sphere of the region.

Bağlar has been expanding its readership and strengthening the presence of the Turkish language in the Balkans since its very first issue. In the file “Şahsiyetler” published along with the current issue, the writers shed light on the great Turkish poet of the Balkans, Sûzî Çelebi, precious poets and writers of the contemporary era, Çamil Siyariç and Abdylazis Islami as well as the Ottomans’ first and last mayor in Varna, Halil Efendi. This way, they help us remember once again the Balkans’ cultural riches.

Apart from the file, the writers of Bağlar have published their individual essays, short stories and poems. In these texts, they elaborate on the hopes, despairs, longings, reunions, journeys and arrivals in the Balkans, continuing to make important contributions to the literary and intellectual fields in the region.

On the cover page, we see Sezai Karakoç’s sentence “The pen is a responsible witness to the current age”, reminding us of the responsibility of literature, art and philosophy towards life. This issue contains essays titled “The Myth of the Art of Destruction”, “On Transparency” and “Close the Ranks”, in which the writers elaborate on the breaking points in life in an intellectual and literary context.

Bağlar is a journal of a school unique to the Balkans. It is an important stop in its writers’ literary and intellectual journey, where they can share the excitement of their first work. In this issue, Medadin Limani and Mehmed Arif, interviewed by the editorial coordinator Hüseyin Mehmet, communicate their excitement about their first book and tell how their literary journey started and has evolved so far. Medadin Limani talks about his short story book, Örtüsüz Yüzler  detailing his journey of writing the book while Mehmed Arif touches on Turkish poetry and tells the Bağlar readers about his own poetry journey within the context of his book Divanını Yakan Şair .

Please click here to read the 6^th issue of Bağlar.

Please click here to read all the issues of Bağlar.