IZKITAP continues to bring readers together with authors.

Hosted by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, the 4th İzmir Book Fair, organized with the theme “Cinema and Literature” in collaboration with İZFAŞ and TACT Fair Organization, continues to welcome visitors until November 3. Author and poet Ahmet Ümit, along with actor, director, and writer Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, met with the people of İzmir.

At the 4th İzmir Book Fair, important figures continue to meet with book lovers. One of the first names that comes to mind when it comes to crime novels in our country, Ahmet Ümit, met his readers at İZKİTAP. Introducing his new novel “Time of the Predatory Birds” which tells the stories of Chief Inspector Nevzat, Ahmet Ümit also gave hints about his next book. He expressed that the character Nevzat in “Time of the Predatory Birds” is very loved and has become one of us and a hero. Ümit stated that he does not kill his novel characters and will never kill Nevzat. He said, “Chief Inspector Nevzat is timeless, he will not age, he will not retire, he continues. The time of the novel is not the time of daily life, therefore Nevzat will continue. Not every book of mine will feature Chief Inspector Nevzat, because writing the same character becomes boring, after a while it’s necessary to write something else. When I miss him, we reunite like an old friend or relative. After a novel is published, you need to think about a new one, and I have something in mind.”

In the new novel, I will tell the story of Chief Inspector Yıldız Karasu

Ahmet Ümit stated that he plans for the main character in his new novel to be Chief Inspector Yıldız Karasu, one of the characters from the book “Land of the Lost Gods,” who works at the Berlin Police Department. He said, “Yıldız Karasu is a chief inspector living in Berlin. She faces discrimination twice, because she is Turkish and a woman. Now, should we write a Yıldız Karasu in the new novel? It could involve stolen historical artifacts occurring between Anatolia, Berlin, and Rome. I want to write about this female police officer. It is the century of women, and women are awakening, saying we exist, we are no longer second-class citizens, we are not just mothers, we are human beings. They say they do what men do. Therefore, I was thinking of writing a character that includes Yıldız Karasu, and you also agree.” Ümit signed books for his readers.

Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan talked about his book Ara Toplam

Famous actor, director, and writer Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan also met with readers at İZKİTAP. Taylan stated that he wrote his book titled “Ara Toplam” during the pandemic, saying, “This is a book where I tell what I have done until today, how I have come this far as a friend, citizen, child, father, and in my family life. In previous years, I worked in magazines, wrote articles for Radikal and Hürriyet. I have always had a relationship with writing. Since my conservatory years, my relationship with paper and pen has never been broken, and Ara Toplam is a gift of that, reaching a wide audience. It’s a good thing, and communicating this way is very enjoyable. I see it as an opportunity for myself.”

45 minutes is the ideal length for series

Responding to questions, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan answered the question “How do you find the distinction between digital platforms and cinema?” by saying, “I don’t think it hinders cinema. Cinema is a completely different field. Digital may disrupt or challenge TV. This understanding of television really needs to end. Producing series that start at 20:00 and end at 24:00 is very difficult. The ideal length is 45 minutes worldwide, but here it can go up to 140 minutes. I hope this understanding will come to an end.” Speaking about Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” Taylan stated, “It is considered one of the top 10 films of all time by many cinema critics around the world. We owe a lot to Nuri Bilge.”

Taylan also spoke about the film “Daha,” directed by Onur Saylak, which is an adaptation of Hakan Günday’s novel of the same name, saying, “Daha is a project I am very happy and proud to be part of. Hakan Günday is a wonderful novelist. Adapting a novel to the screen is almost an impossible task; the novel was so powerful that we cared about its adaptation. A film emerged that does not embarrass us, and Hakan also approved it.”