Murat Uyurkulak was born in 1972 in Aydın. He grew up in Izmir and currently lives in Istanbul. He dropped out of school where he was studying law and art history and has since held various positions such as darkroom technician, waiter, cook, and peddler. He was the editor of the world news section for the newspapers Radikal and BirGün. Currently he is a journalist and translator, and writes for journals such as Milliyet Sanat. He has translated a number of books into Turkish, such as Edward Said’s From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map, Mikhail Bakunin’s Statism and Anarchy, and The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power by Tariq Ali.

His first novel Tol was published in 2002 and his second one Har in 2006. Tol was widely celebrated and its poetic composition highly praised. His second book Har established his eccentric voice and a new direction in contemporary Turkish literature. His short stories were published in various short story anthologies in Turkey, France and Germany. His first novel Tol was published under the title ‘Zorn’ in German in 2008 by Unionsverlag. It is in the process of being translated to French by Galaade Editions, and to Bulgarian by Balkani along with Har. Tol was also adapted for the theatre and was directed by Mahir Günşiray. The play was staged in Germany and Poland.

A similar version of his article “Pomp and the Province,” featured in this issue of Shahadat, was published in Milliyet Sanat in January 2009.