Mahmud Abdulbaki (1526-1600) composed poetry under the penname Baki during the reigns of four Ottoman sultans. As the acclaimed “Sultan of Poets” during the so-called “Golden Age” of Ottoman literature, Baki’s poetic influence has echoed down through the centuries. The Baki Project, run by Walter Andrews, Sarah Ketchley and Selim S. Kuru with contributions from an international group of scholars and students, will build a digitized corpus of Baki's poetry, the first ever for an Ottoman Turkish poet. This work will be based on more than 180 manuscript copies from libraries around the world.

The Baki Project is a member of NELC's Newbook Digital Texts - an innovative digital humanities publishing house which reimagines and restructures traditional academic research, publication, and education.

Join us for a discussion of the process and challenges of digitizing Ottoman literature, learn more about the Baki Project and Newbook Digital Texts, including the presentation of an original digital transcription tool developed by UW undergraduate students, and enjoy a recitation of Baki’s poems.