Leylâ İpekçi

Leylâ İpekçi — Biography

Leylâ İpekçi was born on 13 October 1966 in Istanbul and is the niece of journalist Abdi İpekçi. She attended Saint Michel French High School before completing a degree in sociology at Boğaziçi University.

She began her journalism career in the mid-1980s as a reporter for magazines such as Kadınca and Adam, and went on to hold editorial posts at Aktüel, Tempo, Rapsodi, Esquire, and Hürriyet's Gazete Pazar supplement. She later wrote columns for Radikal, Zaman, and Taraf, and continues to write for outlets including Yeni Şafak. Also known for her screenwriting, she has published novels such as Maya, İlk Kötülük, Aşk, and Gecenin İkinci Rüyası, winning a first-book prize from Milliyet Sanat magazine in 1998 and the Turkish Writers' Union's Author of the Year award in 2007.

Her husband is film director Semih Kaplanoğlu, and İpekçi has met readers at book fairs and author events across Turkey.