Burhan Sönmez

Burhan Sönmez is an internationally prize-winning Turkish novelist whose works have been translated into more than forty languages. Born in Central Anatolia in 1965, Sönmez later moved to Istanbul where he worked as a lawyer. He was a founder of the social-activist cultural organisation TAKSAV (Foundation for Social Research, Culture and Art) and wrote on literature, culture and politics for various newspapers and magazines. Sönmez was seriously injured following an assault by Turkish police in 1996 and had to receive treatment in Britain, where he remained in exile for several years. He now lectures at METU University in Ankara and lives between Istanbul and Cambridge. Sönmez is the President of PEN International.