My dear friends,

My book ‘North Cyprus My Way’ has been finally published with the kind support of the TRNC Deputy Prime Ministry, Ministry of Economy, Tourism, Culture and Sports and is ready to be presented to the public. (It is not yet the long expected Volume II of ‘Art and Creativity in North Cyprus’, that one is still in the process of translation into Turkish but with the sale of the small one I hope to partly finance the big one.)

‘North Cyprus My Way’ is a book for travellers, written in English and German, and as I said in the press release, for those travellers who want to know more about the country, and therefore I wanted to show its soul which comes to the surface in the poems by local poets I have included, poems that I found would fit the general idea of my essays.

I want to thank the poets who have been willing to contribute to the book and gave me the permission to translate the poems into German.  I want to thank them personally and would be happy if they would join me on the first book presentation at the ‘Cadı Kazanı’ on Friday, May 09 at 18:00 – 20 hrs.  They will receive their copy on the occasion and I will recite the one or other poem in the German language for them to listen to its music and rhythm in the German language, together with the essay I have chosen the poem for.

I would be grateful if you would confirm your participation as my friends Nilgün Güney and Ateş Kozal will be hosting the event.

PS: There will be other book presentations in Kyrenia, the dates of which will be made known separately.

The next one will be in Doğanköy in the newly opened Street Art Café and Bookstore on May 12 at 18:30 hrs.

‘North Cyprus My Way’ – the new book by Heidi Trautmann

Her essays and poems by local poets

‘North Cyprus My Way’ is the personal experience Heidi Trautmann has made on her literary walks through the island, with a view on people, their stories and daily life, on places, villages and cities, on nature and the sky and the sea. As she believes that writers and artists are the ones that present the soul of the country best, she has included poetry by Cypriot poets. The book is intended for the traveller coming to Cyprus and is therefore written in English and German. She received the authorization by the poets to translate their poems.

Introduction by the author

The way travellers choose to make themselves acquainted with a country depends on the interests they have. You may be interested in relics of antiquity or in the traditional cuisine, or you may want to explore nature. If you are interested to meet the local people you will sit with them in cafés or have your hair cut or done at local “Kuaförs” and listen to their daily little problems. The best is a mixture of all, especially when you have come to live in a country, be it part-time or as a resident. I have chosen to explore this country I live in by talking to people, interviewing them, people of the art scene, literature people and of the performing arts. The results I have published in my book “Art and Creativity in North Cyprus”.

But that is not all, I thought, and I started to explore the atmosphere people live in, look into the small traditional ways, saunter through a city or village and observe the activities, carry them out myself, connect myself to the soil, pick my own olives and almonds, ask my Cypriot friends for tips and recipes, do it their way.

Cyprus, actually it is in the north of Cyprus that we live, offers an incredibly deep and wide field of culture and it does not stop developing, it changes all the time with better possibilities of education for the young, and change of life style, and all this combined with the typical way of the Mediterranean “Laisser faire”, the shrug of the shoulder, the gestures and mimicry, their poetry and their love for music. But also - between the lines – their sorrows and pain after 50 years of isolation first as a minority, then as a non-recognized young republic, their hopes and disillusions and their coping with it.

This is what my book is about.

Sponsor:

TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS /DEPUTY PRIME MINISTRY

THE MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, TOURISM, CULTURE AND SPORT

ISBN 978-9963-731-04-6

The books will be available in all bookstores : Bestseller Karakum, Bestseller Alsançak, Street Art Café and Bookstore Doğanköy (opp. Erduran Laboratories), Round Tower Kyrenia, Deniz Plaza, Işik Bookstore Nicosia.

For further details contact Heidi Trautmann under heiditrautmann@hotmail.com