4th Estate buys Temelkuran's 'urgent defence of democracy'

HarperCollins imprint 4th Estate will publish a book about the “new Ice Age of politics” by one of Turkey’s best-known novelists and political commentators, Ece Temelkuran.

Helen Garnons-Williams, publishing director at 4th Estate, acquired world English language rights in Temelkuran’s How to Lose a Country: The New Ice Age of Politics, from Robert Caskie at Caskie Mushens. 4th Estate will publish in hardback in January 2018.

 “Wide-ranging, impassioned, provocative” and informed by Temelkuran’s personal experience, How to Lose a Country dissects the global rise of populism, revealing patterns, dissecting root causes and exploring the myriad and complex ways in which countries can sleepwalk out of their own democracies, according to a 4th Estate spokesperson.

Temelkuran argues that the political upheavals in Turkey over recent decades are part of a wider global phenomenon and that they can and must serve as a warning to those in the West who still have time to break the pattern before they find themselves frozen into political paralysis. The Zagreb-based writer weaves memoir, history and clear-sighted argument into an “urgent and engaging defence of democracy”.

Temelkuran’s journalism has appeared in the Guardian, New York Times, New Statesman, Frankfurter Allgemeine and Der Spiegel. She has been twice recognised as Turkey’s most read political columnist, and twice rated as one of the 10 most influential people in social media with 3 million twitter followers. Temelkuran’s recent novel, Women Who Blow on Knots, won the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award.

Garnons-Williams described Temelkuran as “one of the most brilliant and insightful political commentators writing today”. She said: “As someone who has already lost her own country and who is passionately determined to stop the same thing happening to others, she is uniquely placed to write this important and, ultimately, optimistic book. We are so proud to be publishing her at 4th Estate.”

Temelkuran said: “Though it appears in a different guise in every country, it is time to acknowledge that what we are going through is a global phenomenon.

"We cannot afford to lose time focusing on conditions unique to each of our countries, we need to define a common pattern and find a way to break it. In order to do so, we'll need to learn from the experiences of countries that have already been subjected to this insanity, and we'll need the intellectual stamina of Western countries, where it has yet to be exhausted.”

The author urged for collaboration to occur through a “global conversation” which she hopes will be initiated by the book.

She added: “I am thankful to my agent Robert Caskie for bringing me together with my wonderful editor Helen Garnons-Williams and 4th Estate for this unique kind of book. In these politically turbulent times, writing in English and being completely myself could not have been possible if the stars were not aligned so perfectly.”