Separated from the Sun

A selection of poems by the Kurdish writer Ä°lhan Sami à‡omak, imprisoned in Turkey since 1994. He was arrested when he was a student, tortured and charged with membership of the banned Kurdistan Workers'' Party. The European Court of Human Rights has since ruled that à‡omak''s conviction was unlawful. He has twice appealed against his conviction; both appeals were unsuccessful. In prison he has published eight books of poetry and become one of Turkey''s longest serving political prisoners. In 2018, à‡omak won the Sennur Sezer poetry prize for Geldim Sana (I Came to You). A selection of poems by the Kurdish writer Ä°lhan Sami à‡omak, imprisoned in Turkey since 1994. He was arrested when he was a student, tortured and charged with membership of the banned Kurdistan Workers'' Party. The European Court of Human Rights has since ruled that à‡omak''s conviction was unlawful. He has twice appealed against his conviction; both appeals were unsuccessful. In prison he has published eight books of poetry and become one of Turkey''s longest serving political prisoners. In 2018, à‡omak won the Sennur Sezer poetry prize for Geldim Sana (I Came to You).