Erdem Kurtuldu has been granted the 2020 Talât Sait Halman Translation Award for his meticulousness, skill, and expertise in translating Yan Lianke's 1997 novel The Years, Months, Days from its original Chinese into Turkish.
Born in Istanbul in 1981, Erdem Kurtuldu graduated from the Sinology Department of Ankara University’s Faculty of Language and History-Geography in 2006. He continued his studies at Beijing Language and Culture University with a scholarship awarded by the Chinese government. His Turkish translations include Red Sorghum, Big Breasts and Wide Hips, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, Change, and The Transparent Carrot by 2012 Nobel Prize laureate Mo Yan; The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke (published by Can Yayınları); and Chronicle of a Blood Merchant by Yu Hua.
Selection Committee
Doğan Hızlan, author (Chair)
Sevin Okyay, author, translator, and critic
Ayşe Sarısayın, author and translator
Yiğit Bener, author and translator
Kaya Genç, author and translator
Günler Aylar Yıllar (The Years, Months, Days)
Author: Yan Lianke
Translator: Erdem Kurtuldu
Publisher: Jaguar Kitap
Original title: Nian Yue Ri
First edition in Turkish: 2020