Cihan Aktas

Cihan Aktas (born January 15, 1960) (Turkish: Cihan Aktaş) is a Turkish writer, researcher and journalist. She is the sister of Turkish poet and writer Umit Aktas. Best known for her short story collections, Aktas has published more than forty books of fiction and non-fiction, including her best seller novel Write Long Letters To Me and her well-researched commentary book The Poetry of the East: Iranian Cinema which is an academic favorite on the subject. She was a political newspaper columnist in 1980's, focusing her research papers and articles on women who experienced a traumatic social transformation in Turkey; and has published several books on topics such as exploitation of women, gender and identity politics, and hijab in public space, as a hijabi woman herself. Aktas has been described as a "strong feminist in a minimalist sense" and her literary style as "impressionist fiction". Her female characters "do not give concessions on their identity" and "usually has reached the climax of a longlasting problem." Her novels have been described as a leap forward within the Turkish literature, which traditionally women were the second or third characters. She is married with two children and currently lives in Istanbul.