Orhan Pamuk

Turkey · Born 1952

Nobel Prize in Literature, 2006Middle East & North Africa

Awarded for

Novels that explore his native city, Istanbul, and the clash and blending of cultures

The story behind the prize

Pamuk's novels, such as My Name Is Red (about Ottoman miniature painters) and Snow (a poet in the city of Kars), explore the meeting of East and West, tradition and modernity, and Turkish identity. In 2005 he was charged for comments about the mass killing of Armenians; the charges were dropped.

About

Turkish novelist from Istanbul.

Exam facts

First Turkish Nobel laureate
Famous works: My Name Is Red, Snow, Istanbul: Memories and the City