Aslı Erdoğan
Aslı Erdoğan (born 1967) is a prize-winning Turkish writer, human rights activist and former columnist for the newspaper Radikal, whose second novel has been published in English Language translation.
Born in Istanbul, she graduated from Robert College in 1983 and the Computer Engineering Department of Boğaziçi University in 1988. She worked at CERN as a particle physicist from 1991 to 1993 and received an MSc in physics from Boğaziçi University as a result of her research there. She began research for a PhD in physics in Rio de Janeiro before returning to Turkey to become a full-time writer in 1996.
Her first story The Final Farewell Note won third prize in the 1990 Yunus Nadi Writing Competition. Her first novel, Kabuk Adam (Crust Man), was published in 1994 and was followed by, Mucizevi Mandarin (Miraculous Mandarin) a series of ınterconnected short stories in 1996. Her short story Wooden Birds received first prize from Deutsche Welle radio in a 1997 competition and her second novel, Kirmizi Pelerinli Kent (The City in Crimson Cloak), received numerous accolades abroad and has been published in English Language translation.
She was the Turkish representative of International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee from 1998 to 2000. She also wrote a column entitled The Others for the Turkish newspaper Radikal, the articles from which were later collected and published as the book Bir Yolculuk Ne Zaman Biter (When a Journey Ends) and featured in the 2004 edition of M.E.E.T.'s journal.
She is widely-traveled and has an interest in anthropology and Native American culture.
From December 2011 to May 2012 at the invitation of the Literaturhaus Zurich and the PWG Foundation Erdoğan was Zurich's "writer in residence".
“Hayatın bizlere verip verebileceği tek ödül, tek armağan, sevgi dolu bir insandır ve biz böyle bir insanı, ilk fırsatta katlederiz. Sonra da, ömür boyu, bu asla bağışlanmayan günahın lanetini sırtımızda taşırız.”
“Bu yarı-vahşi topraklarda, yepyeni bir özgürlük ve kuşatılmışlık duygusu içinde tek başımayım. (Yalnız, tek başına, sahipsiz, başıboş, kimsesiz... Türkçe'deki birçok sıfatı ardarda dizebilirim ama sözcüklerle gerçeklik arasında bir köprü oluşturamam.) Bana gereksinim duyan tek bir kişiden, hatta bir gözlemciden bile yoksun olmanın mutlak, dört başı mamur, cehennemsi özgürlüğü... İstediğim yalanı savurabilir, kendime canımın çektiği geçmişi biçebilir, en günahkar fantezilerimin peşinde koşabilirim.”