On the day it was announced that the reclusive American author Harper Lee had penned a sequel to "To Kill a Mocking Bird" due out this summer, I found myself knocking at the door of Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature in Baku. Sadly the museum was closed, or it appeared to be so before two staff members let us in. Named after the great 12th century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi, the museum was built in 1939. Entering the building, we joked that it would be an ideal place for a reclusive author to hide, in one of its heavily protected exhibit halls.For those accustomed to Istanbul's museums, it takes some time getting used to Nizami Museum's house rules. You have to wear protective shoecovers so as not to dirty the palace's carpets. A guide is appointed to you, irrespective of your desire. You have exactly one hour to visit more than 30 rooms in the building with your guide, who talks about biographies of authors in Azeri, following you wherever you go. The lights in the museum halls are only turned on when you enter them. No cellular phones are allowed inside the building.Despite the strictness of its rules, the materials exhibited in the museum are first class. You get to see dozens of different editions of classic books. There are personal items of authors as well as paintings of such interesting figures as Molla Panah Vagif, Fuzuli, Ahmad Yasawi and Samed Vurgun. "The Book of Dede Korkut," "Orkhon Inscriptions," "Divan-ı Lugati't-Türk" are among the works that have exhibit halls devoted to them in this aggressively heated museum.Outside I met young Azeri writer Musa Efendi to learn about the modern literary scene. After graduating from the Economics Faculty in Azerbaijan, Musa studied at Boğaziçi University and the London School of Economics. Four years ago, when he was 20, Efendi's short story "Taken Away" won a prize in a writing competition judged by the online audience of RFE's Azerbaijani Service, Radio Azadliq. Nowadays Efendi is working as a copywriter for ad agencies, writing short stories and planning to complete a new film script. Efendi's first script, "Thus Spoke Zarahustra" turned into a short film that was shown at Cannes Film Festival's "Short Film Corner.""Writers of my generation are kind of lazy," Efendi told me. "The number of high quality literary works is not high. Still, there are some good names out there. Qismet Rustemov is an excellent poet and a great essayist. Nermin Kamal writes novels and poems. I also like the work of Ilham Ekberli. From the older generation there are good writers, including Yusif Semedoğlu, İsmayıl Şıxlı and Rüstem İbrahimbeyov, and the poet Mikayil Müşfiq." Efendi told me that Azerbaijan is only now learning how to promote its literary culture. "We were part of the USSR and works of Azeri writers were published in Russian literary magazines during the Soviet era," he said. "This is why Azeri literature is more or less known in Russia and in post-Soviet countries. After the collapse of the USSR, works of a handful of writers had been translated into English and Turkish. But they were not properly advertised in foreign countries. One of the reasons for this lack of self-presentation is that we belong to a country that is experiencing an era of transition."According to Efendi, Baku's branding strategy is built on organising international music competitions (Can Bonomo came to Baku for Eurovision Song Contest in 2012) and sporting events. "I watch promo videos in international channels but these are not enough to properly represent our culture," Efendi said. "People seem to have forgotten the power of stories and literature in telling the rich cultural history of Baku." He also emphasised the importance of translating the so-called "1960s' generation" of Azerbaijani authors into English and Turkish.