Sema Kaygusuz

Sema Kaygusuz — Biography

Sema Kaygusuz, born 19 August 1972 in Samsun, is a Turkish writer known for her short stories, novels and essays. A 1994 graduate in public relations from Gazi University's communication faculty, she first published short fiction in literary magazines such as Kitap-lık, Adam Öykü and Varlık, then collected stories in Ortadan Yarısından (1997), Sandık Lekesi (2000) and Doyma Noktası (2002); her debut novel, Yere Düşen Dualar, drew wide critical acclaim, was translated and published in France, Sweden, Norway and Germany, and was featured on the cover of the French newspaper Libération's book supplement. Sandık Lekesi won the Cevdet Kudret Literature Award in 2000, her novel Barbarın Kahkahası (Laughter of the Barbarian) won the Yunus Nadi Prize in 2016, and that same year she received Germany's Friedrich Rückert Prize; the English translation of her novel Every Fire You Tend later won both the TA First Translation Prize and an English PEN Award.

Kaygusuz also co-wrote, with director Yeşim Ustaoğlu, the screenplay for Pandora's Box (2008), winner of the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián Film Festival, and she contributes travel writing to Atlas magazine while leading creative-reading workshops. In 2026, after an eleven-year gap, she returned with the dystopian novel Saf Canavar, discussing it in a series of interviews and public talks.