Gonca Özmen

Gonca Özmen (1982, Turkey) is one of the most prominent and remarkable female Turkish poets of her generation. Her poems, both playful and rhythmic, reflect and break traditions. She addresses love, often from a critical feminist perspective, confronting expectations and desires with misunderstandings and fantasies inherent to love. Her work highlights the complexity of human relationships, especially the male gaze on women, and emphasizes the role of corporeality and values surrounding the female body.

At the age of fifteen, she was first noticed in the literary magazine Varlık, and three years later, she gained much attention with her debut collection Kuytumda [In My Corner]. She has evolved from a prodigy to an established name in Turkish poetry. In 2018, she published Belki Sessiz [Silence Maybe], in 2019 Bile İsteye [Willingly].

Özmen has received international recognition with several poetry awards. Her poems have been translated into multiple languages and have been featured on various international stages.