Aslı Erdoğan
{{Short description|Turkish author and human rights activist}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Aslı Erdoğan
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|03|08|df=y}}
| birth_place = Istanbul, Turkey
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| occupation = Writer and human rights activist
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| nationality = Turkish
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| alma_mater = Robert College
Boğaziçi University
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| awards = Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (2020)
Simone de Beauvoir Price (2018)
Václav Havel Price (2019)
Erich Maria Remarque Price (2018)
Tucholsky Award (2016)
D. Welle Story Awards (1997)
Sait Faik Story Awards (2010)
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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, and eight books translated into twenty languages.
Aslı Erdoğan is a writer of literature and author of eight books, novels, novellas, collections of poetic prose and essays, translated into twenty languages including English, French, German, and published by various publishers such as Actes Sud, Penguin Germany, The City Lights among others. She has worked as a columnist in various national and international papers, and she was arrested in 2016 for her collaboration with the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem. Aslı Erdoğan has received several prizes in literature, arts and human rights such as Simone de Beauvoir Prize or the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize. Her work has been adapted into theater and acted in Milan, Graz and Avignon,{{Cite web|title="Requiem pour une ville perdue" d'Asli Erdoğan|url=https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/avignon-fictions/requiem-pour-une-ville-perdue-de-asli-erdogan|access-date=2020-12-23|website=France Culture|date=10 July 2020 |language=fr}} into classical ballet, radio, a short film{{Cite web|title=Captif|url=https://www.clairobscur.info/Film-2347-2560-0-0.html|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Captif|language=fr-FR}}{{Dead link|date=October 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and finally to opera. She is currently living in exile in Germany.{{Cite web|date=2020-02-14|title=Exiled Turkish novelist Asli Erdogan acquitted in terror trial|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200214-turkey-turkish-novelist-writer-asli-erdogan-acquit-terror-trial-court-member-armed-terror-organisation-president-recep-tayyip-germany-2016-coup-pro-kurd-ozgur-gundem|access-date=2020-12-23|website=France 24|language=en}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Asli Erdogan – Astier-Pécher Literary & Film Agency |url=http://pierreastier.com/resources/authors/asli-erdogan/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |language=en-EN |archive-date=2022-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206175156/http://pierreastier.com/resources/authors/asli-erdogan/ |url-status=dead }} 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.
Writing career
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 in 1996 by Mucizevi Mandarin (Miraculous Mandarin) a series of interconnected short stories. Her short story Wooden Birds received first prize from Deutsche Welle radio in a 1997 competition and her second novel, Kırmızı Pelerinli Kent (The City in Crimson Cloak), received numerous accolades abroad and has been published in English translation.
She was the Turkish representative of PEN International'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).
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 Zürich and the PWG Foundation,{{Cite web|url=https://www.pwg.ch/|title=Stiftung PWG - Home|website=www.pwg.ch|access-date=August 26, 2019}} Erdoğan was Zürich's "writer in residence".{{Cite news|title=Writer in Residence|language=de|work=Der Landbote|url=https://www.landbote.ch/news/standard/writer-in-residence-/story/20262263|access-date=2020-12-11}}
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.
Arrest
File:Manifestacja Krakowie w obronie Aslı Erdoğan i tureckich więźniów politycznych 10.jpg, September 2016. The banner reads "Release Aslı Erdoğan and the political prisoners of the Turkish regime".]]
Erdoğan was arrested during the police raid on Özgür Gündem on 16 August 2016, for being a member of the advisory board of the newspaper. On 20 August, she was held in pretrial detention. Özgür Gündem was quickly succeeded by Özgürlükçü Demokrasi (Libertarian Democracy), which featured a daily column called 'Aslı’s Friends'.{{cite web |title=Turkey: renowned author and activist Aslı Erdoğan imprisoned |publisher=English PEN |url=https://www.englishpen.org/campaigns/turkey-renowned-author-and-activist-asli-erdogan-imprisoned/ |date=22 August 2016 |access-date=30 August 2016}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Luque|first=Javier|title=Özgür Gündem Main Trial|url=https://freeturkeyjournalists.ipi.media/trials-calendar/ozgur-gundem-main-trial-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2/|access-date=2020-11-25|website=Free Turkey Journalists|language=en-US}}
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 by Turkish writer Aslı Erdoğan, which was republished in 2007 by Soft Skull Press in English translation by Amy Spangler.
Özgür, the young Turkish protagonist of the story, having deserted her past and secluded herself from outer world, is poor, hungry, and on the verge of a mental breakdown. She has a single weapon left in the all-out war she has declared against Rio de Janeiro: to write the city, which has trapped her and robbed her of everything.
Amy Benfer, writing for Barnes & Noble, states, "The novel might have been richer had Erdoğan taken advantage of the structure to interrogate Özgür's motives and perceptions more fully than Özgür herself can. But it does succeed as a sort of reverse postcard - the hazards of the tropics seen in the eyes of a woman from winter climes."
== Editions ==
- {{cite book |title=The City in Crimson Cloak |publisher=Soft Skull Press |others=trans. Amy Spangler |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-933368-74-0 |location=New York }}
= The Stone Building and Other Places =
The Stone Building and Other Places is a collection of three short stories and a novella ("The Morning Visitor," "The Wooden Birds," "The Prison," and The Stone Building). The collection has become a best seller in Turkey.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/world/middleeast/asli-erdogan-prison-turkey.html|title=Torn Ballet Shoes, and a Life Upended|last=Arango|first=Tim|date=2017-03-02|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-05-02|issn=0362-4331}}
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. {{ISBN|978-0-87286-750-5}}.
= On-line translations =
- Wooden Birds by Aslı Erdoğan at Boğaziçi University{{Cite web|url=http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr/work.asp?CharSet=English&ID=1241|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051122192210/http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr/work.asp?CharSet=English&ID=1241|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 22, 2005|title=Works|date=November 22, 2005|access-date=August 26, 2019}} and Words Without Borders{{Cite web|url=https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/wooden-birds/|title=Wooden Birds|first=Asli|last=Erdogan|website=Words Without Borders|date=23 December 2005 |access-date=August 26, 2019}}
- Extract from Miraculous Mandarin by Aslı Erdoğan at Boğaziçi University{{Cite web|url=http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr/work.asp?CharSet=English&ID=1242|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051112181548/http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr/work.asp?CharSet=English&ID=1242|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 12, 2005|title=Works|date=November 12, 2005|access-date=August 26, 2019}}
- Four articles by Aslı Erdoğan were used in the Turkish State’s indictment against her: This is your father,{{Cite web|date=2019-03-27|title=Aslı Erdoğan • 1 {{!}} "This is your father"|url=http://www.kedistan.net/2019/03/27/asli-erdogan-1-this-is-your-father/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=KEDISTAN|language=fr-FR}} The diary of fascism: today,{{Cite web|date=2019-03-27|title=Aslı Erdoğan • 2 {{!}} "The diary of fascism: today"|url=http://www.kedistan.net/2019/03/27/asli-erdogan-2-the-diary-of-fascism-today/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=KEDISTAN|language=fr-FR}} The most cruel of months,{{Cite web|date=2019-03-27|title=Aslı Erdoğan • 3 {{!}} "The most cruel of months"|url=http://www.kedistan.net/2019/03/27/asli-erdogan-3-the-most-cruel-of-months/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=KEDISTAN|language=fr-FR}} History Readings by a Madman{{Cite web|date=2019-03-27|title=Aslı Erdoğan • 4 {{!}} "History Readings by a Madman"|url=http://www.kedistan.net/2019/03/27/asli-erdogan-4-history-readings-by-a-madman/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=KEDISTAN|language=fr-FR}}
Awards and honors
File:ECF Princes Margriet Award Amsterdam Netherlands.jpg
- Yunus Nadi prize, Turkey 1990
- Deutsche Welle, Germany 1997
- Sait Faik Short Story Award, Turkey 2010 {{Cite web|title=Darüşşafaka Cemiyetİ|url=https://www.darussafaka.org/haberler/56-sait-faik-hikaye-armagani-nin-bu-yilki-sahibi-asli-erdogan-oldu|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Darüşşafaka Cemiyeti|language=tr}}
- Ord i Grensen (Words without borders) Prize, Norway 2013{{Cite web|date=2013-08-26|title=Ord i Grenseland-prisen til Asli Erdogan|url=http://www.forfatterforeningen.no/artikkel/ord-i-grenseland-prisen-til-asli-erdogan/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Den norske Forfatterforening|language=nb-NO}}
- PEN Sweden - Tucholsky Prize, Sweden 2016{{Cite web|title=Aslı Erdoğan Receives Tucholsky Prize|url=https://www.bianet.org/english/society/178890-asli-erdogan-receives-tucholsky-prize|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi}}
- European Cultural Foundation, Princes Margriet Award for Culture, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 2017{{Cite web|title=Stadt Osnabrück: Dokumentation Friedenspreis 2017|url=https://www.osnabrueck.de/friedenspreis/der-friedenspreis/dokumentation-friedenspreis-2017/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=www.osnabrueck.de}}{{Cite web|date=2017-05-09|title=2017 Princess Margriet Award|url=https://culturalfoundation.eu/stories/2017-princess-margriet-award/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=European Cultural Foundation|language=en}}
- Prize for Freedom and Future of Media, Germany, Leipzig, 2017{{Cite web|last=Freedom|first=European Centre for Press and Media|title=Asli Erdoğan: "For all the journalists with their tongues cut out, solidarity is important"|url=https://www.ecpmf.eu/news/awards/asli-erdoan-for-all-the-journalists-with-their-tongues-cut-out-solidarity-is-important|access-date=2020-12-23|website=European Centre for Press and Media Freedom}}{{Dead link|date=May 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web|last=Freedom|first=European Centre for Press and Media|title=Deniz Yücel and Asli Erdoğan win the "Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media" 2017|url=https://www.ecpmf.eu/news/awards/deniz-yuecel-and-asli-erdoan-win-the-prize-for-the-freedom-and-future-of-the-media-2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016070858/https://ecpmf.eu/news/awards/deniz-yuecel-and-asli-erdoan-win-the-prize-for-the-freedom-and-future-of-the-media-2017|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 16, 2017|access-date=2021-01-07|website=European Centre for Press and Media Freedom}}
- Premio Letterario Vincenzo Padula, Italy 2017{{Cite web|last=Saporito|first=Roberto|date=2017-12-03|title=Premio Nazionale V. Padula. A colloquio con Asli Erdogan… che rischia il carcere a vita|url=http://acri.info/index.php/attualita-cultura/2601-premio-nazionale-v-padula-a-colloquio-con-asli-erdogan-che-rischia-il-carcere-a-vita|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Acri Punto Info|language=it-it}}
- Premio Adriatico Meditterraneo, Italy 2017{{Cite web|title=Adriatico Mediterraneo 2017 {{!}} XI edition {{!}} Associazione Adriatico Mediterraneo|url=https://www.adriaticomediterraneo.eu/2017/en/read.asp?id=1259|access-date=2020-12-23|website=www.adriaticomediterraneo.eu}}
- Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights, Vienna, Austria, 2017{{Cite web|title=Bruno Kreisky Menschenrechtspreis|url=https://www.kreisky.org/human.rights/englisch/pt_detail.php?id=144&suchmodus=1&anfang=E|access-date=2020-12-23|website=www.kreisky.org}}
- Theodor Heuss Medal, Germany, 2017
- Stuttgart Peace Prize, Stuttgart, 2017
- Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize, Germany, 2017{{Cite web|title=Stadt Osnabrück: Dokumentation Friedenspreis 2017|url=https://www.osnabrueck.de/friedenspreis/der-friedenspreis/dokumentation-friedenspreis-2017/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=www.osnabrueck.de}}
- Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Human Rights, Paris 2018{{Cite web|title=2018-Asli Erdogan, onzième prix Simone de Beauvoir pour la liberté des (...) - Prix Simone de Beauvoir pour la liberté des femmes|url=http://www.prixsimonedebeauvoir.com/Asli-Erdogan-onzieme-prix-Simone-de-Beauvoir-pour-la-liberte-des-femmes.html|access-date=2020-12-23|website=www.prixsimonedebeauvoir.com}}
- Medal of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Paris 2018{{Cite web|title=Françoise Nyssen décore Asli Erdogan dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres|url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/francoise-nyssen-decore-asli-erdogan-dans-lordre-des-arts-et-des-lettres|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Livres Hebdo|language=fr}}
- Vaclav Havel Library Award, USA 2019{{Cite web|title=Vaclav Havel Library Foundation Announces Asli Erdogan as the 2019 Winner, Disturbing the Peace, Award to a Courageous Writer at Risk – The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation|url=https://www.vhlf.org/awards/vaclav-havel-library-foundation-announces-asli-erdogan-as-the-2019-winner-disturbing-the-peace-award-to-a-courageous-writer-at-risk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903113120/https://www.vhlf.org/awards/vaclav-havel-library-foundation-announces-asli-erdogan-as-the-2019-winner-disturbing-the-peace-award-to-a-courageous-writer-at-risk/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 3, 2019|access-date=2020-12-11|language=en-US}}
- Norwegian Writers Association Award, Norway 2019{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Gerard|date=2018-03-12|title=Turkish writer, Asli Erdogan, gets the authors' freedom of speech award|url=https://norwaytoday.info/culture/turkish-writer-asli-erdogan-gets-authors-freedom-speech-award/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Norway Today|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-11-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127204551/https://norwaytoday.info/culture/turkish-writer-asli-erdogan-gets-authors-freedom-speech-award/|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
|title=Aslı Erdoğan
|url=http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr/author.asp?CharSet=English&ID=28
|work=Bogazici University
|access-date=2009-10-24
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051113231333/http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr/author.asp?CharSet=English&ID=28
|archive-date=2005-11-13
}}
|title=Aslı Erdoğan
|url=http://www.pen.org/author.php/prmAID/335
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327095118/http://www.pen.org/author.php/prmAID/335
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2008-03-27
|work=International PEN
|access-date=2009-10-24
}}
{{cite web |title=The City in Crimson Cloak |first=Amy |last=Benfer
|url=http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/In-Brief/The-City-in-Crimson-Cloak/ba-p/273 |work=barnesandnoble.com
|access-date=2010-09-02 }}
{{cite news |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-arrests-novelist-asli-erdogan-over-terror-charges.aspx?pageID=238&nID=103049&NewsCatID=341 |newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News |title=Turkey arrests novelist Aslı Erdoğan over 'terror' charges |date=2016-08-20 |access-date=2016-08-21 }}
}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|last1=İmşir|first1=Şirma Begüm|title=Dictionary of Literary Biography: Post-1960 Novelists in Turkey|date=2013|publisher=Gale Cengage Learning, Bruccoli Clark|isbn=9780787696542|pages=87–92|edition=Volume 379}}
External links
{{commons category-inline}}
- {{official|https://aslierdogan.net/}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20161218221517/http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-02-13-erdogan-en.html We Left a Deep Invisible Mark Behind Us] by Aslı Erdoğan at Eurozine
- [http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100201000&fa=author&person_id=17658#content Aslı Erdoğan Biography]
{{Turkish literature}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdogan, Asli}}
Category:Boğaziçi University alumni
Category:People associated with CERN
Category:Robert College alumni
Category:Turkish women novelists
Category:Turkish women short story writers
Category:Turkish women writers