Isolation sparked Karahan’s creative instincts.
Hakan Karahan is a prolific writer, actor, director who chose the creative path over his illustriousbanking career many years ago. Karahan found himself sequestered at a farmhouse in the Trakya region during the pandemic, with not much to do at first: “I read, listened to music, watched Netflix, exercised and deeply thought about life, the good old days of the 70s, 80s and 90s, suffocating Turkey, refugees, harsh politics, corruption, getting old, family, death, career, my RC years, my University of Miami years, ex-girlfriends, and love affairs.”
After the first lazy three months, his creative instincts kicked in: “I started to imagine the farmhouse as my boutique hotel of four rooms, closed because of Covid-19. No personnel. Just myself there. Trying to write my ninth novel as a struggling writer because there is nothing else to do. In my imagination, the front door opens and the film star of my adolescent years walks in and asks for a room to stay for a week. What would I do? What was the story? Who were we really? What would we talk about? Would we become friends? Would we have an affair? Why was she here? How could we have ended up in a small village in the pandemic? Was it a miracle?” All these questions had to be answered, so I started writing.” Cennette Bir Hafta (One Week in Paradise, Mona Yayıncılık) is the result.
Karahan hopes that through his novel readers realize the concept and value of being an individual - which he believes RC taught - rather than a lazy conformist. He believes this distinction changes one’s life forever.
Published July 2023
