AKAŞ, Cem

Storywriter and novelist (b. 10 March 1968, Mannheim / Germany). His full name is Mehmet Cem Akaş. Also he has used Levend Eğriboz and James Whitbread as pen names. He came to Türkiye when he was 6 years old. He attended Robert College and graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Chemistry. He started his master’s on political science at Boğaziçi University and continued his master’s program at New York Columbia University. Then he returned to Boğaziçi University to start his doctorate on Turkish Political History. He worked as a proofreader, translator, editor and editor-in-chief at Yapı Kredi Publications beginning in 1991 and in 1999 he began to work as a publication advisor.

Between 1996 and 1999 he managed Cogito, Kitap-lık and Sanat Dünyamız reviews published by the same organization. He established SonKişot with Cenk Koyuncu. He made a TV program called Okudukça (As We Read) prepared with Enis Batur and which he presented himself (1993-94). Also he has a talent for composing music and continues this work in İstanbul. His first short story called Gerçeğin Öte Yanında (On the Other Side of The Truth) was published in the review Gergedan (1987) and then his short stories, essays and translations were published in Gergedan, Argos, Kitap-lık and Sanat Dünyamız reviews in the following years. In 1993, he rejected the “Ones at the Summit” Literature Award given by the review Nokta.

WORKS:

SHORT STORY: Noktanın Kesişimleri Antolojisi (Anthology of Intersections of a Point, 1990), Gizli Hava Müzesi (Secret Air Museum, 1995), Aşkın Zembereği Uyandığında Kadın Halâ Yanımdaydı (The Woman was Still by My Side When the Watch Spring of Love Woke Up, 2000).

NOVEL: 7 (Seven, 1992), Suç ve Ceza (Crime and Punishment, 1992), Balığın Esir Düştüğü Yer (The Place Where the Fish was Taken Prisoner, 2000), Olgunluk Çağı Üçlemesi I (Trilogy of Maturity I, 2001), Sönmemiş Kireç (Flicked Lime) Olgunluk Çağı Üçlemesi II (Trilogy of Maturity II, 2001), Oyun İmparatorluğu (Game Empire) Olgunluk Çağı Üçlemesi III (Trilogy of Maturity III, 2001).

PROSE-POETRY: Belkienisbatur (Perhaps Enis Batur, 19-93).

ESSAY: İse (If, 1999; expanded 2nd edition İse, Ki Değil - Nadüz Yazılar- If, Though Not - Texts not in Prose, 2001).

COLLECTION: Gorbaçov'un Rusyası (Gorbachev’s Russia, 1995), Kavramlar ve Bağlamlar Arasında (Between the Concepts and the Contexts, 2002).

STUDY: 11 Eylül Bir Saldırının Yankıları (11 September: Echoes of an Attack, edition with Tamer Erdoğan, Bedirhan Toprak, Fatma Canpolat and Ali Ece, 2001).

INTERVIEW: Kavramlar ve Bağlamlar Arasında-20. Yüzyıl Düşünürleriyle Söyleşiler (Between the Concepts and the Contexts- Interviews with 21st Century Intellectuals, 2002).