Yasemın Aydinoğlu: Istanbul Noir

Behçet Çelıkwas born in 1968 in Adana, Turkey. He graduated from the Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1990 and had his first short story published in Varlık in 1987. His stories, essays, and translations have been published in various publications. Editor for Virgül , a journal of literary criticism, Çelik is the author of five story collections, the most recent of which, Gün Ortasında Arzu (2007), won the prestigious Sait Faik Short Story Award.

İnan Çetınwas born in 1966. He has worked in libraries, bookstores, and the publishing industry. His first published short story appeared in Adam Öykü in 1995. Since then he has published literary criticism and essays, two story collections ( Bin Yapraklı Lotus , 2003, and İçimizdeki Şato , 2005), and a novel ( İblisname: Bir Hayalin Gerçek Tarihi , 2007).

İsmaıl Güzelsoywas born in 1963 in the town of Iğdır and grew up in Istanbul. His articles and stories have been appearing in literary journals since 1987. His first book, consisting of (in his own words) a series of “micro-novels,” was published in 2000. A second novel, Ruh Hastası , was published in 2004. More recently he has published a trilogy, the Banknot Üçlemesi . Güzelsoy still lives in Istanbul, where he has worked as a guide in the city and other regions of Turkey.

Hıkmet Hükümenoğluwas born in 1971 in Istanbul. His first novel, Kar Kuyusu , was published in 2005, and his second, Küçük Yalanlar Kitabı , in 2007. Hükümenoğlu also writes short stories and scripts, works as a translator, and dabbles in electronic music.

Müge İplikçiwas born and raised in Istanbul. She received the Yaşar Nabi Nayır Award (for writers and poets under the age of thirty) in 1996 and a Haldun Taner Award in 1997. She is the author of four story collections and two novels, and is the editor of two works of nonfiction. İplikçi is currently the chairperson of the Turkey PEN Women Writers’ Committee.

Riza Kiraçwas born in 1970 in Istanbul, where he grew up. He studied cinema at Dokuz Eylül and Marmara Universities and has worked as director, assistant director, and writer for documentaries, commercials, and TV programs. His short films and documentaries have been shown at various national and international festivals. His stories have been published in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. He is also the author of two story collections and four novels.

Lydia Lunchcontinues to bitch, moan, insult, attack, purr, and squeal thirty years after her initial outburst. Her exhibitionist tendencies are manifested in the written, spoken, or sung word, through photography and film, and most often in live performance. Her first book, Paradoxia: A Predator’s Diary, was published by Akashic in 2007. In 2009, Akashic will publish her next book, Will Work for Drugs.

Jessica Lutzwas born in the Netherlands in 1962 and moved to Istanbul in 1989. She works as a reporter for various Dutch media as well as CBS radio, U.S. News and World Report, and BBC radio. She has written two books: De Gouden Appel (2002), about modern Turkey, and Gezichten van Istanbul (2008), about Istanbul. A short story of hers was published in Tales from the Expat Harem (2005).

Bariş Müstecaplioğluwas born in 1977 in İzmit-Kocaeli. He is the author of Turkey’s first fantasy fiction series, the four-volume The Legends of Perg , as well as the novel Şakird . His most recent work is an ongoing series of illustrated children’s books and he is currently writing a novel that will be published in 2009. Müstecaplıoğlu has also been working as a human-resources specialist in various firms for the past eight years.

Algan Sezgıntüredıwas born in 1968 and works as an author, graphic designer, painter, and translator. He has two published detective novels, Katilin Şeyi (2006) and Katilin Meselesi (2007). Both novels feature the handsome, charming knucklehead Vedat and his partner, short, squat Tefo, the brains of the crime-busting duo.

Amy Spangleris a native of small-town Ohio and moved to Istanbul upon graduation from college in 1999. She still lives in the elusive and amorphous Istanbul, where she works as translator, agent, and editor. She is the translator of Asli Erdogan’s novel The City in Crimson Cloak (Soft Skull, 2007) and coowner of AnatoliaLit Literary and Copyright Agency (www.anatolialit.com).

Feryal Tılmaçwas born in 1969, in Adana, Turkey and studied Economics at Boğaziçi University. Her short stories and essays have been published in numerous literary magazines in Turkey. She is the author of the story collection Mevt Tek Hecelik Uyku (Okuyan Us Publishing, 2007) and won the Altkitap Short Story Prize in 2006. She lives in Istanbul.

Sadik Yemnıwas born in Istanbul and has resided in Amsterdam since 1975. His writing combines myriad genres and styles: detective fiction, drama, paranormal, horror, science fiction, metaphysics, and humor. He is the author of nine novels published in Turkish, as well as a variety of short stories, essays, plays, and film scripts.

Mustafa Zıyalanwas born on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. He worked as a general doctor and coroner in a rural Anatolian village and now lives and practices psychiatry in New York. He has worked with torture victims, prison inmates, delinquent children, pathological gamblers, and people with AIDS. His poetry, short fiction, and essays have appeared in many literary periodicals, anthologies (most recently in New European Poets from Graywolf Press), and books.