"The Norman Itzkowitz Turkish Short Story Award is an annual prize granted to the two best short stories written in Turkish by Turkish language students in North America, one at the advanced level and the other at the beginner/intermediate level. The award memorializes the contributions of Norman Hoca, whom we lost in January 2019.

This year’s award selection committee consisted of internationally acclaimed authors, literary critics, and academicians: Ayten Alkan, Asuman Kafaoğlu-Büke, Sine Ergün, Burcu Karahan, Tülin Kozikoğlu, Esra Özdemir, and Mehmet Zaman Saçlıoğlu. I am deeply grateful for their generous support and hard work to painstakingly evaluate all the submissions in different language level categories. The criteria they used in the selection process, however, were not simply the language level, but a wide range of literary qualities like style, storyline, and character descriptions. Despite the major linguistic challenges in creating a piece of literature in a foreign language, the short stories were promising and engaging.

After thorough reviews: “Kanat ve Duvar” by Gong Chen, in advanced level, and “İtalya’da Yaşıyordum O Zaman” by Laurens P. Boomsma, in beginner/intermediate level received the highest points."