Lauded poet to be guest of honor at ?zmir Book Fair

Acclaimed Turkish poet Süreyya Berfe will be the guest of honor at this year?s ?zmir Book Fair.

The 20th version of the annual fair is scheduled to take place at the Kültürpark Fair Area between April 18 and 26. More than 400 publishing houses and NGOs will attend the fair in the western Turkish city.

Berfe, 72, whose poems have been translated into 18 languages, is one of the most
prominent artists to couple social realism with Turkish folk after the 1960s.

Some 153 cultural activities are planned for the fair, including panels by Canan Tan, Ay?e Kulin, Hakan Günday, ?lber Ortayl?, Deniz Kavukçuo?lu, Ali K?rca, Yüksel Pazarkaya, Mine Sö?üt, Haydar Ergülen and Ataol Behramo?lu.

The ?zmir Book Fair?s 20th birthday will be celebrated with a special exhibition in which the fair?s history will be visually displayed in a retrospective way.

Another exhibition will feature the portrait caricatures of late writer Aziz Nesin, who would have turned 100 years old if he had remained alive.