Sema Kaygusuz


Sema Kaygusuz is a novelist, playwright, essayist, and short story writer from Turkey. Her work has been translated into English, Italian, German, French, Swedish, and Norwegian. She won a Yunus Nadi Award in 2016 for her novel Laughter of the Barbarian. Among other accolades, she is a recipient of the Cevdet-Kudret-Literature Award, the France-Turquie Literary Award, and was named laureate of the German Friedrich Rückert Prize. The English translation of her novel Yüzünde Bir Yer won both the TA First Translation Prize and an English PEN Award. She currently resides in Istanbul.
As a screenwriter, she co-wrote the screenplay for the 2008 film Pandora's Box with director Yeşim Ustaoğlu.

Selected works

In Turkish

  • Ortadan Yarısından, 1997
  • Sandık Lekesi, 2000
  • Doyma Noktası, 2002
  • Esir Sözler Kuyusu, 2004
  • Yere Düşen Dualar, 2006
  • Yüzünde Bir Yer, 2009
  • Karaduygun, 2012
  • Barbarın Kahkahası, 2016
  • Aramızdaki Ağaç Yazılar, 2019

Translated works

  • Wein und Gold Roman, translated by Barbara Yurtdaş and Hüseyin Yurtdaş
  • La chute des prières: roman, translated by Noémi Cingöz
  • Ce lieu sur ton visage: roman, translated by Catherine Erikan
  • En bønn faller til jorden, translated by Cora Skylstad
  • Platsen i ditt ansikte, translated by Ulla Bruncrona
  • The Well of Trapped Words, translated by Maureen Freely
  • L'éclat de rire du barbare, translated by Catherine Erikan
  • Every Fire You Tend, translated by Nicholas Glastonbury
  • La risata del barbaro, translated by Giulia Ansaldo
  • The Passenger: Turkey