KurdîLit: Network for Kurdish Literature and Publishing in Turkey was designed with the partnership of Diyarbakır Arts Center, Lîs Publishing, and Literature Across Frontiers to increase the visibility of Kurdish literature. Aspired to compile existing information on Kurdish literature, the project aimed to gather and archive online key information about the actors (publishers, writers, translators, literary journals) active in the field of Kurdish literature and publishing in Turkey, and to contribute to a more intensive communication between these actors and international literary institutions over time. The project, which set out to support the dissemination and recognition of Kurdish, which is of central importance in the debate on cultural rights and diversity in Turkey, as a language of literature both in Turkey and in the world, was intended to contribute to revisiting the current debates on mother tongue with a cultural rights dimension. KurdîLit: Network for Kurdish Literature and Publishing in Turkey website was launched on August 17, 2016. The website includes four categories of actors active in the field of Kurdish literature and publishing in Turkey: writers, translators, publishing houses, and journals/magazines, alongside the 2016 Kurdish Literature Report, prepared through interviews with literary producers, and an agenda section to share the events and developments in the field.

The KurdîLit website preparation process began with networking meetings in February 2016, which were held in Diyarbakır, İstanbul, Batman, Mardin, and Van. During this process, 120 writers and translators, 22 publishing houses, and 14 representatives and editors of journals were contacted, along with various language and literary institutions. The profiles of the writers, translators, publishing houses, and journals that responded to the call and sent their information were compiled and included on the website in three languages: Kurdish, Turkish, and English. The first launch meeting of the KurdîLit website was held at Diyarbakır Sümerpark Reception Hall June 29, 2016. Subsequently, the website was presented at the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival on August 26, 2016, and it was introduced to Turkish and Kurdish literary actors and other relevant cultural and artistic institutions at a meeting held at Cezayir in Istanbul in September 2016.

Kurdish Literature And Publishing In Turkey 2016 Report