The Honorary Writer for the 42nd International Istanbul Book Fair, to be held in 2025, has been chosen as Murathan Mungan, one of the versatile and original writers of our literature as a Turkish author, playwright, and poet. Murathan Mungan was born in Istanbul. He spent his childhood and early youth in Mardin. He graduated from the Theater Department of Ankara University's Faculty of Language, History, and Geography, and completed his master's degree in the same department. He made his name by publishing poems, stories, texts, essays, critiques, and reviews in various magazines and newspapers.
He worked as a dramaturge at the State Theaters in Ankara and the City Theaters in Istanbul. In 1987, he edited the "Culture and Arts Page" of the daily newspaper Söz. In 1991, he prepared and directed a special collection series bearing the "Strawberry" logo for Remzi Bookstore.
His first book was Mahmud and Yezida, published in 1980. The Ankara State Theatres' production of "Deers Curses" was invited to the "Theater der Welt," an international theater festival, in Berlin, in 1999, and closed at the Schaubühne. The same play was performed at the Thessaloniki State Theatre in Greece in 2003. The author's story "Kasım and Nasır" from his book War Stories, which inspired "Deers Curses," was performed at "La Mamma Umbria" in Italy in 1994. His story "Muradhan and Selvihan, or a Tale of a Crystal Pavilion" from his book Lal Masallar (Long Tales) was performed at the Théâter Des Arts de Cergy-Pontoise in France in 1987, directed by Lulu Menase. The same story was included in Penguen Books' "World Stories Anthology" in the US. It was also staged as a musical play in Frankfurt in 2008, along with "Binali and Temir," which was included in the "Con Tempo" system of War Stories.In 2003, at the Bette Nansen Theater in Copenhagen, the author's short play "Like on the Page" was included in "One Thousand and One Nights," a collaborative project bringing together several Eastern writers. The same play was staged in England in 2005 at the Nottingham Playhouse under the title "1001 Nights Now."
In 1989, Murathan Mungan staged British author Nell Dunn's play "Steaming" under the title "Kadınlar Hamamı" (Women's Bath).
During Mungan's time, two radio plays were also performed by Ankara Provincial Radio: "The Garden for Four Persons" and "Deathburnu."
Mungan has also written three film scripts, one of which was adapted into a film. In addition to "Messy Bed," which was filmed by Atıf Yılmaz in 1984, he also has two other screenplays: "A Garden for Four" and "Another's Life."
Murathan Mungan continues to publish various anthologies of stories and articles by foreign writers.
He has written lyrics for songs, many of which have been performed by the "Yeni Türkü" (New Turkish Folk Song) group. His "cover" album, "Özvermiş Şarkıları" (Songs I Have Sung), featuring renditions of his songs by prominent Turkish singers and groups, was released in 2004. This album was followed by two more music albums: "Aşk Tesadüfleri Sever" (Love, Tesadüfleri Sever) and "2020 Model."
In addition to some of his books, his various articles and poems have been translated into English, German, French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Greek, Finnish, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Persian, Kurdish, Spanish, Slovenian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, and Ukrainian, and published in various magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. Mungan has participated in various talks and readings in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, France, the United States, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Poland. Numerous radio and television programs about Mungan have been produced both domestically and internationally.
In 2018, he was one of six writers selected by the organization from world literature to live in Berlin for a year on a DAAD scholarship.
The author has lived in Istanbul since 1985 and has been working as a freelance writer since 1988.