Orhan Pamuk at First Parish Church

Harvard Book Store welcomes Orhan Pamuk—award-winning author of My Name Is Red and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006—for a discussion of his new literary collection Memories of Distant Mountains: Illustrated Notebooks, 2009-2022, beautifully illustrated with his own paintings. He will be joined in conversation by Stephen Kinzer—award-winning foreign correspondent and Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University.

There are two ticket options for this event.

Book Included: Includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of Memories of Distant Mountains, pre-signed by the author.

Admission Only: Includes admission for one.

The journals of the Nobel Prize–winning author, beautifully illustrated with his own paintings
For many years, Orhan Pamuk kept a record of his daily thoughts and observations, entering them in small notebooks and illustrating them with his own paintings. This book combines those notebooks into one volume. He writes about his travels around the world, his family, his writing process, and his complex relationship with his home country of Turkey. He charts the seeds of his novels and the things that inspired his characters and the plots of his stories. Intertwined in his writings are the vibrant paintings of the landscapes that surround and inspire him.
A beautiful object in its own right, in Memories of Distant Mountains readers can explore Pamuk's intoxicating inner world and can have a fascinating, intimate encounter with the art, culture, and charged political currents that have shaped one of literature’s most important voices.

"Pictures of a writer’s days. . . . An intimate volume revealing glimpses of his life and work. . . . Although he gave up artwork in favor of writing, he still finds pleasure in combining both, as did William Blake. . . . Some illustrations, glowing with pinks, greens, and yellows, evoke Matisse. In slashes of black and grey, Pamuk captures the dark mysteries of seascapes; in other drawings, he tries to convey the quality of his dreams. . . . A lyrical illuminated memoir." —Kirkus Reviews

Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006. His novel My Name Is Red won the 2003 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His work has been translated into more than sixty languages. He lives in Istanbul. Translated by Ekin Oklap.

Stephen Kinzer is the author of many books, including The True Flag, The Brothers, Overthrow, and All the Shah’s Men. An award-winning foreign correspondent, he served as the New York Times bureau chief in Nicaragua, Germany, and Turkey. He is a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, and writes a world affairs column for The Boston Globe. He lives in Boston.

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, United States