Meltem Arikan

Meltem Arikan is a Turkish author and playwright who has dedicated her life to write against Patriarchal system and to fight for freedom of speech and expression. Arikan is known by her sharp critique of society and fearless and outspoken voice in all her novels, plays, poems and articles.

Arikan’s first short stories and essays were published between 1992 to 1995 in various literary journals. Her first novel was published in 1999. Her fourth novel Yeter Tenimi Acıtmayın (Stop Hurting My Flesh) was banned in early 2004 by the Committee to Protect Minors from Obscene Publications. The ban was lifted after had fight and Arıkan has been awarded with “Freedom of Thought and Speech Award 2004” by the Turkish Publishers’ Association.

Arikan has written 8  novels, 1 book of research and 6 plays. She has received several awards and was short-listed for the Freedom of Expression Award in 2014 by Index on Censorship for her play ‘Mi Minor’ which the Turkish authorities claimed was a rehearsal for the Gezi Park demonstrations in 2013. Their subsequent hate campaign, fuelled by state sponsored media, forced her to leave Turkey to start living in Wales.

Since 2011 her articles are being published in various web sites in different countries including, News Junkie Post, Index on Censorship on a regular basis on digital world, censorship, woman rights, child abuse, defending freedom of expression.



London (Greater London)



Ki Agency

Meg Davis
meg@ki-agency.co.uk
Studio 315, Screenworks
22 Highbury Grove
London N5 2ER
tel: 020 3214 8287

Books


Fiction


1999, And… Or… Maybe… (original title: Ve… Veya… Belki…)
4rd edition 2012, Arkadas Publications

2000, Yes… But… As If… (original title: Evet… Ama… Sanki…)
4rd edition 2012, Arkadas Publications

2002, Undressing Herself (original title: Kadın Bedenini Soyarsa)
6th edition 2011, Arkadas Publications


2004, Stop Hurting My Flesh (original title: Yeter Tenimi Acıtmayın)
7th edition 2011, Arkadas Publications


2005, You Exist In No Way (original title: Zaten Yoksunuz)
4th edition 2005, Everest Publications,


2006, Hope is a Curse (original title: Umut Lanettir)
2nd edition 2006, Everest Publications


2009, The Tempest of Yearning (original title: Özlemin Beni Savuran)
2nd edition 2015, Yitik Ulke Publications
1st edition Macedonia 2012, Shkupi Publishing House


 2015, Erospa
Arkadas Publications

 

Non-Fiction


2008, The Body Knows (original title: Beden Biliyor), research book
3rd edition 2008, Destek Publications


Theatre Plays


2007, I am Breaking the Game (original title: Oyunu Bozuyorum)
2007, World Premier: Zurich, Zurich Theater Spektakel
2007, Turkey Premier: Istanbul, garajistanbul


2009, Parallel
2009, World Premier: Linz, European Capital of Culture program
2009, Turkey Premier: Istanbul, garajistanbul


2011, Mi Minor
2012, World Premier: Istanbul

2015, Sheep Republic


2015, Hon (work in progress)

2016, Enough is Enough

 

Columnist


2013 – Present
www.asafeworldforwomen.org

2011 – Present
www.archetypeinaction.com

2007 – Present
Kazete Women’s Journal

2014 – Present
www.newsjunkiepost.com

 

Television


2013, Witches Cauldron, Channel +1, 4 Episodes
Writer, producer, presenter

Books, Poetry, Short story, Theatre

A Time Before Some Time Before

Her fingers were not tangled on the keyboard and didn’t make any music. There was no rhythm, and her eyes were not lost in that harmonic vibration. Her computer waiting for her in silence...no windows were open, nor were any VPNs activated. Letters and numbers couldn’t find time to follow other letters and numbers this time...there was no hologram appearing or holograms meeting with rhythms. There were no waves on her hands, eyes, ears, soles...waves weren’t waving, blue was not passing through red, pale orange was not exploding inside blue, yellow was not biting purple...the screen was pitch black...colours couldn’t erase letters, rhythm couldn’t wash up the colours, the light vortex couldn’t appear. She was just there facing the computer, just like that. Her eyes were focused, thinking, she felt sick to her stomach and suddenly she found herself sliding very fast on a dark sleigh, then arriving by a lake surrounded by colourful trees.

Some of the trees had dark green leaves, some pale, some reddened, and some were even lilac. Urud looked at the trees with admiration. Autumn was painting the trees with its colours. This place looked just the way she’d pictured the woods when she read Snow White, colourful, shiny, bright and peaceful. The ground was a perfect carpet of red, lilac, yellow leaves...leaves that followed her with their rustling sounds at each step…

There was nothing else apart from the sound of the leaves accompanying her. Rays of sunlight leaked through the grey clouds, lightening her way like floodlights on the stage in a theatre.

Passing between giant ancient trees, she got closer to the shining-like-a-mirror lake and first saw black swans on it, then white swans became clear, then seagulls and geese. She walked faster and saw that indeed there were hundreds of geese in and around the lake. Barnacle, Canada, Pilgrim geese and her favourites, the Embden geese, and those Sebastopol geese, which had feathers like the fluffy dresses she adored...

Urud laughed until tears started falling from her eyes. She was surrounded by her childhood friends, the geese! She didn’t care where she was or about Main Server. She walked even faster to get closer to a group of geese that were searching for something to eat amongst the fallen leaves but she had nothing with her to feed them.

When she got closer to the geese, they didn’t run away from her. When she got closer to the geese they didn’t hiss at her. She sat among them. Wished she had something to...at that moment she saw the orange polka-dotted bag hanging from the branch of a tree. She jumped up immediately and took the dangling bag. And of course, it was full of food for geese.

“Thank you,” she shouted to the void…

...

(From Meltem Arikan\\\'s Last Novel Erospa)