Ayşe Kulin

Ayşe Kulin (born 26 August 1941) is a Turkish short story writer, screenwriter and novelist. Kulin was born in Istanbul in 1941. Her father, Muhittin Kulin, of Bosniak origin, was one of the first civil engineers in Istanbul who founded the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ); he was soon appointed first director of this institution. Her mother Sitare Hanım, a Circassian, was the granddaughter of one of the Ottoman economy ministers.

Kulin graduated from the American College for Girls in Arnavutköy, Istanbul. She released a collection of short stories titled Güneşe Dön Yüzünü in 1984. A short story from this called Gülizar was made into a film titled Kırık Bebek in 1986, for which she won a screenplay award from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Kulin worked as a screenwriter, cinematographer and producer for many films, television series and advertisements. In 1986, she won the "Best Cinematographer Award" from the Theatre Writers Association for her work in the television series Ayaşlı ve Kiracıları. In the 80s, she also took painting lessons from Yusuf Taktak.

In 1996, she wrote a biography of Münir Nurettin Selçuk titled Bir Tatlı Huzur. With a short story called Foto Sabah Resimleri she won the "Haldun Taner Short Story Award" the same year, and the "Sait Faik Short Story Award" the next year. In 1997, she was honored as the "Writer of the Year" by the İstanbul Communication Faculty for her biographical novel Adı Aylin, She won the same award the next year for her short story Geniş Zamanlar. In November 1999, she wrote a novel called Sevdalinka about the Bosnian War and in 2000, a biographical novel called Füreyya. In June 2001, she put out a novel titled Köprü about drama in Turkey's eastern provinces and how they shaped the republic's early history.

In May 2002, Kulin wrote a novel titled Nefes Nefes'e about the Turkish diplomats, who have saved the lives of Jews during the Holocaust in World War II.

She has been married twice. Her latest novels, "Hayat" and "Hüzün," describe her life with her spouses, Mehmet Sarper and Eren Kemahli. Both marriages ended in divorce, but she had four sons from these marriages.