Çomak, İlhan Sami

İlhan Sami Çomak was born on March 8, 1973, in Karlıova, Bingöl, Turkey. He completed his primary and secondary education in Bingöl and, in 1992, enrolled in the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Letters and Sciences, Istanbul University. In 1994, he was detained and subsequently arrested. Çomak remained incarcerated for an uninterrupted period of 30 years, 3 months, and 8 days.

In addition to writing poetry in Turkish, he also writes in his native language, Kurdish.

To date, he has published several poetry collections, including “Gitmeler Çiçek Kurusu”, “Açık Deniz”, “Günaydın Yeryüzü”, “Kedilerin Yazdığı İlahi”, “Bir Sabah Yürüdüm”, “Yağmur Dersleri”, “Dicle’nin Günlüğü”, “Geldim Sana”, “Hayattayız Nihayet”, and “Çiyayê Girtî” (in Kurdish). He is also the author of the autobiographical work “Karınca Yuvasını Dağıtmamak” and the play “Hayat Seni Çok Seviyorum”. His selected poems have been published under the title “Haritadan Taşan”.

Çomak’s poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages, including English, Norwegian, Russian, German, Italian, Greek, French, Albanian, and Welsh. His selected poems in English have appeared in the volume “Separated From the Sun” (Smokestack Books UK, 2022), followed by “Words that Walk Through Walls” (Palewell Press Ltd, UK, 2024). His Norwegian collection, “Elvene Renner Ut Av Kartene”, was published by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag in 2025.

He is the recipient of numerous literary and human rights awards. These include the Sennur Sezer Labor-Resistance Poetry and Story Award (2019), the Metin Altıok Poetry Award (2022), the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Writers’ Union Freedom of Expression Award (2022), the Halkevleri Special Award, the Üstün Akmen Theatre Award, and the Theatre Critics Association Award for Best Play (2022). In 2024, he was honored with the Sevinç Özgüner Human Rights, Peace and Democracy Award by the Turkish Medical Association, and in 2025, he received the Jack Hirschman Poet of the Planet Award.

His life and literary journey have been the subject of two documentaries: “Gönderen: İlhan Sami Çomak” (2016) and “A Hopeful Sun (Umut Dolu Bir Güneş)” (2025). Additionally, two short films dedicated to him—“Anatomy of Freedom and Not Home Yet”, produced by Açık Şiir in 2022—were screened out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and featured at the Borders Art Festival under the theme “Fragmented Identities.” His play “Hayat Seni Çok Seviyorum” was published by İletişim Yayınları and staged at Moda Sahne in Istanbul in 2022.

İlhan Sami Çomak is a member of Turkish PEN and the Writers’ Union of Turkey, and an honorary lifetime member of Norwegian PEN, Austrian PEN, PEN Cymru (Wales), PEN Ireland, Kurdish PEN (PENa Kurd), and PEN Santa Fe New Mexico.