Aslı Erdoğan

Aslı Erdoğan (born 8 March 1967) is a prize-winning Turkish writer, author, human rights activist, and columnist for Özgür Gündem and formerly for Radikal, ex political prisoner, particle physicist. Her second novel has been published in English, into classical ballet, radio, a short film and finally to opera. She is currently living in exile in Germany.

Early years 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, Brazil before returning to Turkey to become a full-time writer in 1996. Erdoğan was Zürich's "writer in residence".

She was a writer-in-resident for the ICORN in Kraków, Poland in 2016. After her return to Turkey, she continued to write for the pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem. After four months, she was released pending trial. Following the lifting of a travel ban in June 2017, she left Turkey for Germany, where she lives in exile.

English language bibliography Two of Erdoğan's works are available in English translation.

The City in Crimson Cloak The City in Crimson Cloak (Turkish title: Kırmızı Pelerinli Kent) is a 1998 novel, which was republished in 2007 by Soft Skull Press in English translation by Amy Spangler.

The interconnected short stories feature women whose lives have been interrupted by forces beyond their control: exile, serious illness, and the imprisonment of loved ones. These tales culminate in the novella; the "stone building" is a metaphor for the various oppressive institutions—prisons, police HQ's, hospitals, and psychiatric asylums—that dominate the lives of the characters.

Editions The Stone Building and Other Places. Trans. Sevinç Türkkan. San Francisco: City Lights. 2018. .

On-line translations Wooden Birds by Aslı Erdoğan at Boğaziçi University and Words Without Borders Extract from The Miraculous Mandarin by Aslı Erdoğan at Boğaziçi University Four articles by Aslı Erdoğan were used in the Turkish State’s indictment against her: This is your father, The diary of fascism: today, The most cruel of months, History Readings by a Madman

Awards and honors

Yunus Nadi prize, Turkey 1990 Deutsche Welle, Germany 1997 Sait Faik Short Story Award, Turkey 2010 Ord i Grensen (Words without borders) Prize, Norway 2013 PEN Sweden - Tucholsky Prize, Sweden 2016 European Cultural Foundation, Princes Margriet Award for Culture, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 2017 Prize for Freedom and Future of Media, Germany, Leipzig, 2017 Premio Letterario Vincenzo Padula, Italy 2017 Premio Adriatico Meditterraneo, Italy 2017 Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights, Vienna, Austria, 2017 Theodor Heuss Medal, Germany, 2017 Stuttgart Peace Prize, Stuttgart, 2017 Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize, Germany, 2017 Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Human Rights, Paris 2018 Medal of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Paris 2018 Vaclav Havel Library Award, USA 2019 Norwegian Writers Association Award, Norway 2019