Cemil Kavukçu

Cemil Kavukçu — Biography

Cemil Kavukçu is a Turkish short-story writer and a winner of the Yaşar Nabi Nayır, Sait Faik, Sedat Simavi and Erdal Öz awards. He was educated as a geophysics engineer but made his name as a short-story writer; the literary press often calls him a "master storyteller" (usta öykücü), and his new books, known for a plain style, bring him back into the conversation each time.

Born in İnegöl in 1951, he graduated from the Geophysical Engineering Department of Istanbul University's Faculty of Science in 1976, and his stories have appeared in literary magazines since 1980. He received the Yaşar Nabi Nayır Short Story Award in 1987 for Patika; in 1996 his collection Uzak Noktalara Doğru won the Sait Faik Short Story Prize. His autobiographical narrative Angelacoma'nın Duvarları brought the Sedat Simavi Literature Award in 2009, and in 2013 he received the Erdal Öz Literature Award.

He has kept publishing story collections: after Gemiler de Ağlarmış, Üstü Kalsın in 2014 and Gölgeli Muhabbetler in 2024. In 2012 he was the guest of critics Ömer Türkeş and Semih Gümüş at the Sözünü Sakınmadan event organised by Sabit Fikir and Istanbul Modern, and in 2017 he was guest of honour at the Bursa Book Fair; in a 2022 interview he said he approaches the climate crisis through aliens. He now also reads and evaluates stories submitted to Edebiyat Haber. Some of his stories have been adapted for film and television.