As part of the Bursa International Literature Festival, Banu Uçak will hold a conversation with the Norwegian writer Vigdis Hjorth titled “Family Memory, Individual Truth.” Drawing on the novels Will and Testament, Is Mother Dead and Long Live the Post Horn!, we will talk about the memory passed down from generation to generation within a family, the tension between what is remembered and what was lived, and the individual’s search for their own truth.
Taking place in Nilüfer from 26 to 29 November, the Bursa International Literature Festival brings together writers and readers from different parts of the world under the theme “Sharing: The Power of Stories to Bring Us Together.”
What particularly intrigues me about Hjorth’s writing is how the same shared past can become entirely different stories for different people. Can the narratives that hold a family together also prevent individuals from telling their own stories? Through this conversation, I hope to explore literature’s power to reveal the complex relationships between family, belonging, memory, and truth.
27 November 2026, 20:00–21:00 · Nazım Hikmet Kültürevi · Speakers: Banu Uçak, Vigdis Hjorth · Organised by: Bursa International Literature Festival (BUEF)