Maureen Deidre Freely

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

(born July 1952) is an American journalist, novelist, professor, and translator. She has worked on the Warwick Writing Programme since 1996.

Biography

Born in Neptune, New Jersey, she is the daughter of author

John Freely John Freely (26 June 1926 – 20 April 2017) was an American physicist, teacher, and author of popular travel and history books on Istanbul, Athens, Venice, Turkey, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of writer and Turko-English lite ...

, and has a brother, Brendan. Maureen Freely grew up in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. She graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. She now lives in England. She is the mother of four children and two step-children. She was married to

Paul Spike Paul Robert Spike is an American author, editor in chief and journalist. He is best known as the author of the 1973 memoir ''Photographs of My Father'' about the murder of his father, civil rights leader Robert W. Spike, in 1966. Career Spi ...

, with whom she had a son and a daughter. Freely is an atheist.

Work

Freely lectures at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

and is an occasional contributor to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' newspapers. She is the current president of

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associati ...

, the founding centre of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. Among her novels is ''The Life of the Party'', set in Turkey. She has also written ''The Other Rebecca'', a contemporary version of

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...

's classic 1938 novel ''

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

''. Freely is also an occasional contributor to ''

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

'', a magazine about Turkey. She is best known as the Turkish-into-English translator of

Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, his work has sold over thirteen million books in sixty-three lan ...

's recent novels. She works closely with Pamuk on these translations, because they often serve as the basis when his work is translated into other languages. They were both educated simultaneously at

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, although they did not know each other at the time.

Marie Arana Marie Arana (born Lima, Peru) is an author, editor, journalist, critic, and the inaugural Literary Director of the Library of Congress. Biography Marie Arana was born in Peru, the daughter of Jorge Enrique Arana Cisneros, a Peruvian-born civil ...

praised Freely's translations of Pamuk works like ''Snow'', '' Istanbul: Memories and the City'', and ''

The Museum of Innocence ''The Museum of Innocence'' ( tr, ) is a novel by Orhan Pamuk, Nobel-laureate Turkish novelist published on August 29, 2008. The book, set in Istanbul between 1975 and 1984, is an account of the love story between the wealthy businessman Kemal ...

'' as "vibrant and nimble" translations. Freely translated and wrote an introduction to

Fethiye Çetin Fethiye Çetin () (born 4 May 1950 in Maden, Elazığ Province) is a Turkish lawyer, writer and human rights activist. Biography Growing up in Maden, Fethiye Çetin had no reason to suspect that she had other than Turkish Muslim roots, until he ...

's memoir, ''My Grandmother''.Çetin, Fethiye, ''My Grandmother: A Memoir'', 2008. Freely was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...

in 2012.

Works

Novels

* ''Sailing Through Byzantium'' (2013) * ''Enlightenment'' (2008) * ''The Other Rebecca ''(2000) * ''Mother's Helper'' (1982) * ''The Stork Club'' (1995) * ''What About Us'' (1996) * ''The Parent Trap'' (2002) * ''Under the Vulcania'' (1994) * ''The Life of the Party'' (1986)

Translations

of Orhan Pamuk: * '' The Black Book'' * ''

Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

'' * ''Other Colors: Essays and a story'' * '' Istanbul: Memories and the City'' * ''

'' of

* ''My Grandmother'' of

Sabahattin Ali Sabahattin Ali (25 February 1907 – 2 April 1948) was a Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. Early life He was born in 1907 in Eğridere township (now Ardino in southern Bulgaria) of the Sanjak of Gümülcine (no ...

* '' Madonna in a Fur Coat'' (with Alexander Dawe) of

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar (23 June 1901 – 24 January 1962) was a Turkish poet, novelist, literary scholar and essayist, widely regarded as one of the most important representatives of modernism in Turkish literature. In addition to his literary and ...

* ''

The Time Regulation Institute ''The Time Regulation Institute'' ( tr, Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü) is a novel by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar. It began serialization in a newspaper in 1954. It was first published as a book in 1961. Yapı Kredi Yayınları republished the novel i ...

'' of

Sait Faik Abasıyanık Sait Faik Abasıyanık (18 November 1906 – 11 May 1954) was one of the greatest Turkish writers of short stories and poetry and considered an important literary figure of the 1940s. He created a brand new style in Turkish literature and brou ...

* ''A Useless Man''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freely, Maureen 1952 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American translators 20th-century American women writers 20th-century English people 20th-century English women 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American translators 21st-century American women writers 21st-century English people 21st-century English women Academics of the University of Warwick American atheists American emigrants to England American expatriates in Turkey American women academics American women novelists English atheists English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Harvard College alumni Literary translators People from Neptune Township, New Jersey Presidents of the English Centre of PEN Turkish–English translators