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Northwestern Professor Tells Turkish Coming-of-Age Story


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Ozge Samanci was born in Izmir, Turkey shortly after Turkey and Greece had gone to war over the island of Cyprus. Growing up on the Aegean Coast, she dreamed of a life of adventure like her hero Jacques Cousteau.

But in the 1980s, women in Turkey weren't supposed to have adventurous lives. After initially trying to meet the expectations of others, Samanci finally realized her true calling was to be an artist.

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Samanci, an artist and an assistant professor at Northwestern University, tells her coming-of-age story in her new graphic memoir "Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up In Turkey."

Watch a trailer for Samanci’s memoir, below.


Read excerpts from the book, below.

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