Deniz Utlu

{{Short description|German writer (born 1983)}}

{{Expand German|date=March 2025}}

File:Deniz Utlu 2023.jpg

Deniz Utlu (born 1983) is a German writer. He was born in Hannover into a Turkish immigrant family. He went to university in Berlin and Paris.

Utlu has written both fiction and non-fiction, including plays and poetry. His first two novels were Die Ungehaltenen (2014) and Gegen Morgen (2019). His third novel Vaters Meer (2023) gained him widespread acclaim. Utlu's work explores recurring themes such as memory, silence, the fragility of language, and the search for belonging in a transcultural society.{{Cite web |title=Deniz Utlu |url=https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/author/deniz-utlu |website=European Union Prize for Literature |access-date=17 May 2025}} Vaters Meer was praised by the jury of the Bavarian Book Prize for its "extreme precision in evoking memories – sounds, images, feelings, scraps of language – and for its layered reflection on how life stories are constructed."{{Cite web |title=Deniz Utlu wins the Bavarian Book Prize 2023 for Father's Sea |url=https://www.suhrkamp.de/rights/nachricht/deniz-utlu-wins-the-bavarian-book-prize-2023-for-father-s-sea-b-4231 |website=Suhrkamp Verlag |access-date=17 May 2025}} Vaters Meer became a critical success and won the LiteraTour Nord Prize and the Bavarian Book Prize. It also received a special mention at the 2024 edition of the European Union Prize for Literature.

Utlu lives in Berlin. He ran the cultural magazine freitext between 2003 and 2013.{{Cite web |title=Deniz Utlu |url=https://granta.com/contributor/deniz-utlu/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Granta |language=en-US}}https://www.suhrkamp.de/rights/person/deniz-utlu-p-15332{{Cite web |title=Deniz Utlu {{!}} EU Prize for Literature |url=https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/author/deniz-utlu |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=www.euprizeliterature.eu}}