Erik Mortenson

Erik Mortenson is a literary scholar, writer, and translator. He is the author of three books, all from Southern Illinois University Press: 'Capturing the Beat Moment: Cultural Politics and the Poetics of Presence,' which was selected as a Choice outstanding academic title in 2011; 'Ambiguous Borderlands: Shadow Imagery in Cold War American Culture' (2016); and most recently, 'Translating the Counterculture: The Reception of the Beats in Turkey' (2018). After earning a PhD from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mortenson spent a year as a Fulbright Lecturer in Germany and a decade at Koç University in Istanbul where he helped found the English and Comparative Literature Department. In addition to his scholarly work, Mortenson is also an avid translator whose work has appeared in journals such as Asymptote, Talisman, and Two Lines. He is currently working on a book-length translation of Zekâ’s selected poetry.