Young author Cihan Acar has written a Heilbronn novel. The Hawaii neighborhood gave the book its title. Photo: Mario Berger Photo: Berger, Mario
In life, things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes fate throws you off course. In the case of Kemal Arslan, it is his car that throws him off the road. The leg: gone. The big dream of a career as a professional soccer player in Turkey as well. So the early 20-year-old returns to his hometown of Heilbronn.
There, the mood boils up within a few hot June days. Because two hostile groups – right-wingers and migrants – are increasingly clashing. Meanwhile, Kemal wanders around aimlessly. Tries to reconnect with old friends, win back his ex-girlfriend Sina, and convince his parents that he can start over. They once came to Germany from Turkey and now live in the Hawaii district.
Acar moved to Berlin to write his book
“I carried this around with me for years,” says author Cihan Acar of the story, “now it’s written out.” It took a long time for him to write the first chapters of “Hawaii” – the title of his debut novel. “I still had the university, which was running at the same time,” remembers the Bad Friedrichshaller. He noticed that if he really wants to implement his idea, he has to get involved.
So he put his law studies in Heidelberg on hold and moved to Berlin for six months. Instead of relying solely on inspiration there, he set to work in a disciplined manner. Acar: “You have to set yourself a fixed number of hours for writing every day.” From a distance he was then able to develop a different view of Heilbronn.
Folk festival hustle and bustle on the Theresienwiese, a party at Club Creme, street battles on the avenue: readers from the region will recognize many of the novel’s settings. What he enjoyed most, however, was that he might invent his own Heilbronn and set different accents here and there, says Acar. The decision to play scenes in the Hawaiian district was made spontaneously.
“Over the course of history, the district has become increasingly important”
“In the course of history, the area and the name Hawaii became more and more important, they continued to develop, in the end it fitted best that ‘Hawaii’ should also be the title,” explains the Bad Friedrichshaller.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/klopNz-RM-0
Because his parents were also born in Turkey, he himself lived in Istanbul for a while and likes to play football, it makes sense to compare the main character with its author. He, in turn, concedes: “You can’t prevent a lot from your own history from flowing in.” But he didn’t want to make “Hawaii” too autobiographical. “Kemal is like a younger brother of mine,” he says.
book premiere
Photo: Alternate Photographer
The book premiere of “Hawaii” will take place on Tuesday, February 18th at 8 p.m. in the Boxx in the Theater Heilbronn.
In the final, the situation gets completely out of control
Even if Acar doesn’t like to talk regarding literary role models: Due to the episodic nature of the story and the forlornness of its protagonist, “Hawaii” is vaguely reminiscent of JD Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye”. “I really like the tone of this book. The character feels so real, like he’s talking to you while he’s telling the story,” he says. Acar, on the other hand, is much more surreal in the finale, when the situation in some parts of the city spirals completely out of control.
He was able to convince Hanser Berlin with this mix. The publisher has included the book in its current program. Acar is currently preparing for readings and interviews. He already has enough ideas for further stories. Will they play in Heilbronn once more? Acar leaves that open. “You should do something new with every book, I like to experiment a lot,” he says. On the other hand, it also means that one should write regarding what one knows best. First of all, however, he wants to do his exams. plans and such.
To person
Cihan Acar was born in Bad Friedrichshall in 1986, where he now lives once more. After leaving school, he flirted with becoming a journalist for a while and reported, for example, for the German Press Agency from Turkey. Finally, he decides to study law in Heidelberg. In his free time he likes to play soccer. After various positions – including at FC Union Heilbronn – he is currently lacing up sports shoes once more for his first club, Spvgg Oedheim. Cihan Acar has written two non-fiction books – one regarding the Turkish sports club Galatasaray and one regarding hip hop. “Hawaii” is his first novel. This will be published on Monday by Verlag Hanser Berlin (256 pages, 22 euros).