Suzan Samancı
Bio:
Poet and writer (b. 20 September 1962, Diyarbakır). She graduated from Diyarbakır High School (1979). She chose being a writer as an occupation and began with poetry.
Her first poems were published in Sanat Olayı review from 1985 to 87. Then she turned towards story writing. Her stories have been published mainly in Adam Öykü and Defter reviews. She has written weekly columns for Gündem newspaper.
She came second in the Orhan Kemal Story Award with her work called Kıraç Dağlar Kar Tuttu (Snow Lay on the Barren Mountain).
Her work Perili Kent (Haunted City) was published in German and Turkish after it came in the top twenty-five in a competition held by Sound Radio in Germany.
Her book called Reçine Kokuyordu Hêlin (Hêlin Smelt Like Resin) was translated into German, Flemish, Spanish and Italian; her story called İki Anne (Two Mothers) was translated and they were both published in different European countries. She continues to work in Diyarbakır. She is a member of the PEN Association of Writers and the Writers Union of Türkiye.

Books
KOCA KARINLI KENT (The Big-Bellied City)
Genre:
Fiction Literary & General
Publisher:
Rights avail:
Rights sold:
Ayrıntı
All except sold
A Kurdish family, driven from their village by violence, struggles to rebuild their lives in Istanbul in this lyrical, dreamlike novel narrated by a young girl. The Big-Bellied City weaves myth and reality into a poignant portrait of forced migration, family resilience, and the haunting power of memory.
REÇINE KOKUYORDU HÊLIN (Hêlin Smelt Like Resin)
Genre:
Fiction Literary & General
Publisher:
Rights avail:
Rights sold:
Sel Yayıncılık
All except sold
German (reverted), Italian (reverted), Spanish (reverted)
In fifteen poignant stories, Suzan Samancı offers an intimate view of a land often discussed without its people, memories, and everyday realities. With warmth and lyrical sensitivity, Helin Smelled of Resin gives voice to lives shaped by longing, truth, color, and place.
HALEPE'DEN GELEN SEVGILI (My Beloved from Halabja)
Genre:
Fiction Literary & General
Publisher:
Rights avail:
Rights sold:
Sel Yayıncılık
All except sold
Swedish
Beginning with the aftermath of the Halabja massacre, Halepçe'den Gelen Sevgili follows Zeynep and Delila from Kurdistan to Istanbul and Geneva. Through their intertwined stories of love, loss, exile, and memory, Suzan Samancı explores how political violence survives in the lives of those who endure it—and how love can become a form of resistance.
KIRAÇ DAĞLAR KAR TUTTU (Snow Lay on the Barren Mountain)
Genre:
Fiction Literary & General
Publisher:
Rights avail:
Rights sold:
İletişim
All except sold
German (reverted)
Second prize in the 1997 Orhan Kemal Story Award





