Ferit Edgü

Ferit Edgü — Biography

İsmail Ferit Edgü was born on February 24, 1936, in Istanbul. He began his higher education in the painting department of the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts before continuing his studies in Paris. After returning to Turkey he founded the publishing house Ada Yayınları, which between 1976 and 1990 brought out numerous works by Turkish and foreign writers, including many authors of the “1950 Generation,” as well as art books.

While completing his military service as a soldier-teacher in Hakkari, Edgü drew on the experience to write his best-known novel, A Season in Hakkari, which reached a wide readership and was later adapted into a film that won the Silver Bear at the 33rd Berlin Film Festival, though the film was banned in Turkey for a time. Known for his short stories, art criticism and essays, Edgü's writing frequently touched on the long history of state violence against Turkey's Kurdish population in the country's east, and he received the Sait Faik Short Story Award for his story “Bir Gemide” (“On a Ship”). He died in Istanbul on July 22, 2024, and was remembered as one of the leading figures of modern Turkish literature.