Mother Tongue

When Erdem Çelikta, a writer from Turkey, wakes one day to find he can no longer speak or understand anything but English, his life is overturned. While Erdem’s native Turkish has always held him as father, author, and political activist in a familiar light, Erdem’s English mind offers an altered perspective, awareness, even character. With no explanation or cure to be found, Erdem must find a way to reframe his thoughts, his work, even his memories in order to understand his fractured world.

Mother Tongue is an elegant journey that examines how we may be shaped and reshaped by language. Üstündag creates a clever and bittersweet pilgrimage of empathy and change, quietly shining light on the overwhelming isolation of the immigrant, the refugee, and the traveler.