This morning I was working in my hotel room.
Around 10 a.m. I heard a loud explosion. It could have been a bomb, but I wasn’t sure.
After Baghdad I got used to explosions.
It turned out that a suicide bomber had detonated himself on Taksim Square.
For that reason all festival events were canceled today.
I had a pleasant lunch at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski.
Other writers were adamant that the events should not have been canceled.
But if you accept the surrealism of a literary festival you should accept that cancellation is part of the surrealism.