Erik Mortenson

Erik Mortenson is an assistant professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. He earned his Master's degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and completed a PhD from Wayne State University in Detroit, before spending a year as a Fulbright Lecturer in Erlangen, Germany. His work focuses on American literary and visual texts and their intersection with the cultural concerns of the twentieth-century. Erik has published numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as two books. He is currently finishing a third book project that explores the reception of the Beats in Turkey as "underground literature." Tentatively titled "Translating Counterculture: The Reception of the Beats in Turkey," this transnational account examines what happens when transgressive literature crosses national, political, religious, and cultural borders. Erik is also an avid translator, and a member of the Cunda International Workshop for Translators of Turkish Literature. In his spare time he enjoys playing racquet sports, swimming, and cooking for his family.