A Quick Guide to Orhan Pamuk

Once again, Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk is rumored to be a leading candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The author of “Snow” and “My Name Is Red” has been here before, along with Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates, the writers most frequently mentioned as his competition. But this looks like the 54-year-old Pamuk’s year (a bad year for a writer can be good for his Nobel chances—see below).

In the interest of dispelling any Orhan Who? confusion, we’re providing a crib sheet. So by the time the Nobel committee makes its announcement Oct. 12, you’ll be up to speed. Of course, the more we say and the more you prepare, the worse his chances will probably get. On the other hand, he’s someone you should know about whether he ever wins the prize or not. He’s that good.

Who is Orhan Pamuk?

Pamuk is Turkey's greatest novelist—and its most controversial. Last year he sparked a furor when he told a Swiss newspaper that "a million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in this country [during World War I and between 1986 and 1999, respectively], and I'm the only one who dares to talk about it." In response, ultranationalist Turkish lawyers brought charges against Pamuk, accusing him of "insulting Turkishness." The charges could have landed him in jail if the case hadn't been thrown out. Even so, Pamuk received multiple death threats and was branded an "abject creature" by Hürriyet, Turkey's largest newspaper. In the process, though, he became an international hero of free speech. The European Union's enlargement commissioner called Pamuk's trial a "litmus test" of Turkey's commitment to the European values, and some of the world's top authors, including Gabriel García Márquez, Günter Grass , Umberto Eco and John Updike publicly backed his stand.

What's he written?

Five novels and a memoir-travel book. Most of Pamuk's writing isn't overtly political—rather, he draws on the many cultures of his native city, Istanbul, as the background to almost all of his stories. But despite his antiquarian settings, Pamuk deals with vital contemporary issues such as identity, religion and belonging. "The White Castle” (1979) explores the relationship between a 17th-century Turkish astrologer and his slave, an Italian astronomer. In “My Name is Red” (2001), the intrigues of Ottoman court calligraphers serve as background to a story that is part murder mystery and part exploration of how an artist can shape the world he depicts.