Kaygusuz, Sema, 1972-

Sema Kaygusuz (born August 29, 1972, in Samsun, Turkey) is a novelist, playwright, essayist, and short story writer from Turkey. Her work has been translated into English, Italian, German, French, Swedish, and Norwegian. She won a Yunus Nadi Award in 2016 for her novel Laughter of the Barbarian. Among other accolades, she is a recipient of the Cevdet-Kudret-Literature Award, the France-Turquie Literary Award, and was named laureate of the German Friedrich Rückert Prize. The English translation of her novel Yüzünde Bir Yer (Every Fire You Tend) won both the TA First Translation Prize and an English PEN Award. She currently resides in Istanbul. As a screenwriter, she co-wrote the screenplay for the 2008 film Pandora's Box (Turkish: Pandora'nın Kutusu) with director Yeşim Ustaoğlu.