What Does an Author Expect from a Translator? An Interview with Poet and Novelist Zeynep Kurada

On May 25, 2025, poet and novelist Zeynep Kurada delivered a talk on literature and translation at Çankaya University as part of an event organized by the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies. Drawing on the highlights of this wide-ranging talk, the present interview brings together Mustafa Kirca and Beyza Havvanur Sarımehmet in conversation with Zeynep Kurada on the relationship between translation, the translator, and art, more specifically on what an author expects from a translator. The interview also addresses the translation of poetic novel and images, with particular reference to her novel Hayatımın Çoğunda Yoktum (‘‘Absent for Most of My Life’’).