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Ilhan Sami Çomak Awarded with Two Literary Prices

Ilhan Sami Çomak, the Kurdish poet who has been in a Turkish prison for the last 28 years, was awarded the Metin Altıok Poetry Prize and the Norwegian Freedom of Expression Award (shared with Ahmet Altan, writer/journalist from Turkey). The…

The Ladder: A Conversation with the Incarcerated Poet İlhan Sami Çomak, Part IV

I learned to read by reading the Bible. For me, the Bible was a giant black book with the engraved image of the Sacred Family on the cover. I used to love the words printed there with straight letters. Gold…

The Ladder: A Conversation with the Incarcerated Poet İlhan Sami Çomak, Part III

When I started writing this interview with Ilhan Sami Çomak, I imagined a way to escape from prison. If I were in Ilhan’s position, I think I would think about it all the time. Lacking any handyman skills, I wouldn’t…

The Ladder: A Conversation with the Incarcerated Poet İlhan Sami Çomak, Part II

This is the second part of our conversation with Ilhan Sami Çomak, who has been in prison for the last 27 years. Ilhan has written eight books of poetry. In part I of the interview, describing his situation, Ilhan writes:…

The Ladder: A Conversation with the Incarcerated Poet İlhan Sami Çomak, Part 1

In 2014, After sixteen years in exile, I was able to return to my native Colombia. My mother was dead already, so the last time I saw her was the day in 1998 when I boarded the plane with the…