Aslı Erdoğan

Aslı Erdoğan was born in Istanbul in 1967. She studied Information Technology and Physics at the Bosphorus University in Istanbul, taking her degree in 1993. In 1990, Aslı Erdoğan won the renowned Yunus Nadi Prize. From 1992 to 1994 she worked at the CERN particle physics research centre in Geneva. Four years later, Erdogan gave up her scientific career to devote herself fully to writing. Her first novel, Kabuk Adam, was published in 1994, and since then she has been living and working as a writer in Istanbul. From 1998 to 2000 she worked as a columnist for the newspaper Radikal.

In her columns, as in her stories, she dealt with big, controversial topics such as torture, violence against women, Kurdish rights, etc. In 2010 she received the Sait Faik Literature Prize, Turkey’s most important literary prize. Erdoğan is a member of PEN and the Turkish Writers Association, as well as being a founder member of the Literary Forum and Diyarbakir Art Centre, where she regularly holds workshops, seminars and talks. Aslı Erdoğan has been an active supporter of human rights since 1993.

She writes poetry, short stories, poetic prose, travel and political articles in various media. Her novel "Kırmızı Pelerinli Kent" has been published in English translation as "The City in Crimson Cloak" (New York, Soft Skull Press 2007). /// As of December 1, 2012