We have never thought of WAYANA as merely a place that serves wine. Of course, sustaining the business through wine service and generating income is a prerequisite. But if that were all this venture amounted to, it would never be enough to meet our expectations of life or reflect the way we see the world. That is why WAYANA has been striving to become a place that values wine culture and differentiates itself through this perspective.
We often repeat, almost by rote, that wine has a history spanning thousands of years. Yet despite constantly invoking this long and precious past, it would be hard to claim that we put sufficient effort into preserving and nurturing this heritage. Culture can only survive and evolve if it is embraced and internalized. In our country, there are serious obstacles to making this happen. Chief among them is the political climate. The idea that opposing alcohol, and therefore wine, provides political advantage, along with the policies shaped by this belief, stands as the greatest barrier to recognizing wine as a cultural element. Still, history gives us reason to hope that political climates do change. For now, patience seems to be our only option.
But does that mean we should simply wait and do nothing? Our answer is a clear no. Within the limits of our means and possibilities, both WAYANA and those who give it life work with full commitment to do justice to what we do. One of these efforts is the WAYANA BOOKS project, which is the subject of this text.
What Is the WAYANA BOOKS Project?
Wine culture should be understood as something that has permeated everyday life and become an inseparable, integrated part of it. Verses in poetry, descriptions woven into literary works, elements that complete a painter’s composition, lyrics in folk songs and popular music all reveal the cultural dimension of wine. By now, it should be clear that this is a very different definition from what is usually implied by the term “wine books.” WAYANA BOOKS was created to bring together these refined treasures that have quietly seeped into life itself.
The “Wine Between the Lines” Series
The name of the series makes our intention perfectly clear. The books in this series are not wine books in the conventional sense, nor were they written by authors who set out to write about wine. They are works in which wine appears naturally, almost incidentally, within the broader narrative. The first book in the series is a travelogue by Robert Louis Stevenson: Travels with a Donkey.
The original title of the book is Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. It was published after Stevenson’s journey through the Cévennes region of France in 1878. Among his observations during the trip are vineyards, winegrowers, and wine itself. These references occupy only a small space in the book, yet as you read, you feel how inseparable they are from everyday life. Stevenson’s journey coincides with the period when Europe was struggling under the grip of phylloxera, a vine disease that pushed European vineyards to the brink of destruction. With just a few sentences, the author records the effects of this devastation in a striking and memorable way.
Characteristics of the Books Published in the Series
All the works selected for this series belong to the public domain under Turkish copyright law, which stipulates that the rights to a work become public seventy years after the author’s death. However, our task is not merely to republish these works.
Each book in the series is published in its entirety. Works by foreign authors are translated into Turkish from the original editions we are able to access. Our greatest advantage in this process is the availability of highly advanced artificial intelligence applications. This is by no means a simple copy-and-paste operation. There are points where we intervene during editing and revision. But without such powerful AI support, it would not have been possible for us to undertake this project at all.
For Travels with a Donkey, the first book in the series, we prepared additional sections alongside the main text: an Introduction, a Conclusion, and a “Notes for the Curious” section, borrowing the title from Attila İlhan. At the very end of the book, we also included a five-day travel itinerary, in case some readers might wish to follow in Stevenson’s footsteps.
Published Books as e-Books
Turkish law is relatively flexible when it comes to digital publishing. As long as no printed edition is produced, we are exempt from the regulations that apply to traditional publishing houses. That said, many of us still prefer physical books and rightly so. Readers who purchase an e-book are therefore entitled to have one personal printed copy produced for themselves. To ensure consistency and quality, we collaborate with a digital printing service that provides this option. Readers who wish to do so can place this order at the time of purchase.
Upcoming Titles in the Series
The second book in the “Wine Between the Lines” series has already been decided. We will publish Henry James’s A Little Tour in France in Turkish. The format will remain the same, and once again, the book will conclude with a suggested itinerary for readers who might want to undertake a similar journey today.
We are also working on selecting works from among the masters of Turkish literature. We currently have two candidates, though we are still evaluating the extent and density of the sections in which vineyards and wine culture appear in their texts.
Purchasing the e-Books
The e-books can be purchased through WAYANA’s online store, where printed copies can also be ordered. Each e-book is produced as a personalized PDF, customized with the name of the purchaser. To protect the effort behind these works, the purchaser’s name appears on the imprint page. In other words, every book is individually generated. We believe, or perhaps we choose to believe, that for those with a conscientious respect for such matters, this personalization will be a sufficient deterrent against unauthorized use.
Final Word
As you might guess, WAYANA BOOKS is not a project driven by revenue expectations. It is a cultural initiative that reflects the value we place on our work. We are people who do not doubt that Anatolia, where wild vines evolved into cultivated grapes and where wine remained an integral part of civilizations for thousands of years, will one day be remembered once again for its wines. Our hope is to find wine lovers who, by reading these books, will come to share a similar appreciation for wine culture.
