Buket Uzuner (born 3 October 1955, in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Turkey) is a Turkish writer, author of novels, short stories, and

travelogues Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or web series, online series that describes travel in g ...

. She studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and environmental science and has conducted research and presented lectures at universities in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, Norway, the United States, and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Her works have been translated into eight languages:

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, English,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

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, and Bulgarian.

Biography

Since the 1980s, Buket Uzuner has travelled as a "solo woman backpacker" including "inter-rail" tours in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and three other continents where she keeps writing her travel memoirs. Her first travelogue, ''The Travel Notes of A Brunette,'' (1988) sold more than 300,000 copies. Uzuner then wrote two more travel books: ''Travel Notes of An Urban Romantic,'' which questions the meaning of

exoticism Exoticism (from ''exotic'') is the style or traits considered characteristic of a distant foreign country. In art and design it is a trend where creators become fascinated with ideas and styles from distant regions and draw inspiration from them. ...

, and ''New York Logbook'', which are all collected lately in ''the Travel Library of Buket Uzuner''. Her first novel, "İki Yeşil Susamuru, Anneleri, Babaları, Sevgilileri ve Diğerleri" (''Two Green Otters, Mothers, Fathers, Lovers and All the Others''; 1991) reached its 50th edition in 2013 and has sold over one million copies. Uzuner's books have been on the Turkish best-seller lists since 1992. They are taught in several Turkish Universities and High Schools. Her novel “ The Sound of Fishsteps” (1993), was awarded Turkey's Yunus Nadi Prize, while her novel ” Mediterranean Waltz” (1998) was named novel of the year by the

University of Istanbul Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, it was reformed as the fi ...

. She was made an honorary member of the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the I ...

of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1996. She was also honoured with a certificate of appreciation from the Senate of

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

in 2004. She has referred to Turkish Writers

Attilâ İlhan Attilâ İlhan (15 June 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Turkish poet, novelist, essayist, journalist and reviewer. Early life and education Attilâ İlhan was born in Menemen in İzmir Province, Turkey on 15 June 1925. He received most of his pr ...

and

Sevgi Soysal Sevgi Soysal (born Sevgi Yenen; September 30, 1936 – November 22, 1976) was a Turkish writer. Personal life She was born in Istanbul on September 30, 1936 as the third child of six to Mithat Yenen, an architect-civil servant, and his Germa ...

, as well as

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

, and

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...

, as major influences on her work. In September 2020, Uzuner sued the producer of Netflix TV Series ''Atiye'' (The Gift) claiming that the characters were copied from her novel ''Toprak'' in the ''Adventures of Defne Kaman'' series without her permission. She requested an injunction as well as a total of $6,600 compensation from the producer's company and Netflix.

English language bibliography

Five of Uzuner's novels and one short story collection have been published in English language translation.

Mediterranean Waltz

''Mediterranean Waltz'' ( Turkish title: "Kumral Ada – Mavı Tuna") is a 1997 novel by Buket Uzuner, which was awarded the 1998 Novel Prize of

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

and was republished in 2000 by Remzi Kitabevi in English language translation by Pelin Ariner. * Editions:

A Cup of Turkish Coffee

A 2001 short story collection by Buket Uzuner published by

Milet Books Milet Publishing is a London publishing company that specialises in dictionaries and dual-language children’s literature. Bibliography World Literature A collection of English language translations of foreign language works. * * * Turkish ...

, in dual Turkish and English language translation by Pelin Ariner, as part of its series of Turkish-English Short Story Collections. The publisher states that the author:

"takes us into the memories and dreams of children and adults, and explores shared history, love and attachments – to family, lovers and places." Whilst a review in ''Writing in Education'' concludes that the author, "in ''The Other Twin'' notably, is subtle, penetrating about human nature, and well able to project a powerful maxim or a sarcastic image."

* Editions:

The Sound of Fishsteps

'' The Sound of Fishsteps'' ( Turkish: ''Balık İzlerinin Sesi'') is a 1993 novel by Buket Uzuner, which was awarded the 1993 Yunus Nadi Novel Prize and was republished in 2002 by Remzi Kitabevi in English language translation by Pelin Ariner. *Editions:

The Long White Cloud – Galipoli

''The Long White Cloud – Galipoli'' ( Turkish: ''Uzun Beyaz Bulut – Gelibolu'') is a 2001 novel by Buket Uzuner, which was a National Bestseller and was republished in 2002 by Remzi Kitabevi in English language translation by Pelin Ariner. *Editions:

Istanbullu

''Istanbullu'' is a 2007 novel by Buket Uzuner, which was republished in 2008 by Everest Yayınlari in English language translation by Kenneth Dakan. *Editions:

Online translations

''An Unbearable Passion of a Young Man''
at buketuzuner.com.
''The Sun Eating Gypsy''
at buketuzuner.com.
''The Hall''
at buketuzuner.com.
''The Mysterious Passenger at the Spanish Border''
at buketuzuner.com.
''My Soul-mate Istanbul, Ex-Husband Paris and Lover New York''
(Extract from ''New York Log Book'') at buketuzuner.com.
''The Princess with a Gypsy Heart''
(Extract from ''New York Log Book'') at buketuzuner.com.

Bibliography

Novels

*Two Green Otters, Their Mothers, Their Fathers, Their Lovers, and the Others – 1991 * The Sound of Fishsteps – 1993 *Mediterranean Waltz – 1997 *Long White Cloud-Gallipoli – 2001 *Istanbullites – 2007 *WATER: The Adventures of Misfit Daphne Shaman – 1st Book (2012) *EARTH: The Adventures of Misfit Daphne Shaman – 2nd book (2015)

Short story collections

*My name is May – 1986 *The Most Naked Day of the Month – 1988 *The Sun Eating Gypsy – 1989 *The Sorrow of the Northwest Wind – 1993 *The City of Poets – 1994 *Tale, The Sister of Verse – 2003 *Istanbul Blues – 2004 *Yolda on the road – 2009

Travel writing

*The Travel Notes of a Brunette – 1989 *The Diary of an Urban Romantic – 1998 *New York Logbook – 2000

Biography

*Silver Summer, Silver Girl – 2000

Essay

*''Travels with Selin and Cem'' – 2003

Interviews

*Turkey and the Iraqi war, an interview with Pia Ingström, 5 May 2003

References

External links

Personal Website in English
– Buketuzuner.com
Profile and bibliography on the Turkish Culture Portal
—Turkishculture.com
Interview on SkyLife, April 2009
– Thy.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Uzuner, Buket Environmental scientists Turkish novelists Turkish women short story writers 1955 births Living people Turkish women writers International Writing Program alumni