Lovers of Franz K.

By: Burhan Sönmez
Translated by: Hiva Nabi

In Lovers of Franz K., acclaimed Kurdish–Turkish novelist Burhan Sönmez delivers a spellbinding work of imagined history, a daring meditation on literature, obsession, and the lingering shadow of Franz Kafka.

Set against the charged atmosphere of 1968 in Berlin, Istanbul, and Paris, the novel follows Firdy Kaplan and his beloved Amalia, whose consuming devotion to Kafka leads them into a labyrinth of danger and desire. What begins as a passionate attempt to protect the writer’s legacy becomes a descent into interrogation, trial, and betrayal, a struggle over truth, memory, and the ownership of art itself.

With poetic precision and philosophical depth, Sönmez reimagines the afterlife of Kafka’s archive, blending history and fiction into a haunting reflection on love, literature, and the fragile line between devotion and destruction.

In Hiva Nabi’s elegant Arabic translation, Sönmez’s lyrical prose and moral complexity shine through, capturing the atmosphere of rebellion and reflection that defines both Kafka’s world and his lovers’.

Lovers of Franz K. is an ode to the power of words, and a reminder that every act of reading is also an act of love, defiance, and remembrance.