Ece Temelkuran

Ece Temelkuran, an author, journalist, and political columnist, is one of the most popular figures in contemporary Turkey. She was born in 1973 in Izmir. In 1995, she graduated from the Faculty of Law at Ankara University and began her journalism career in 1993 at the newspaper Cumhuriyet. Since then, she has published investigations and books on issues that remain contentious in her homeland, such as the Kurdish and Armenian questions, women's rights, and freedom of expression. Among the awards she has received is the Pen for Peace Award. Her writings are published in international media outlets (The Guardian, Le Monde diplomatique, New Left Review, etc.), and she frequently lectures at academic institutions. Her first novel, "The Sounds of Banana," was published in 2010. Her second novel, "The Magic Breath of Women," was released in 2013 and achieved great success—selling over 120,000 copies in Turkey and being translated into more than fifteen languages. Her most recent novel, titled "Era," was published in 2015.