Amman-based author launches 'A List to Remember'

AMMAN — In her short story collection "A List to Remember", Turkish Amman resident Janset Berkok Shami illustrates the personal repercussions of the political and social upheavals to which people in this area have been subjected.

At a book launch hosted Wednesday by Figen Onal, the wife of Turkey’s ambassador to Jordan, Shami, who is of Circassian origin, commented on several of the 13 stories in the volume — a fraction of the 60 stories she has written and published in literary magazines abroad over the years.

Half of the stories in “A List to Remember” are set in Turkey, and half in Jordan.

In introducing Shami, Onal highlighted her diverse cultural pursuits which, in addition to writing, include painting and producing marionettes for a children’s programme on Jordan TV.

Shami spoke of her engagement in creative writing, terming “the need to write” a “chronic disease” which, once contracted, is difficult to get out of one’s system. 

Despite getting involved in other activities, she always returned to writing.

In a question-and-answer session, Shami revealed that she is currently recording her memories of the late Princess Fakhrelnissa Zeid — HRH Prince Raad's mother — who was her close friend and art teacher. 

Next, she plans to write her own memoirs.