Nurcan Baysal
"It was not an easy decision for me to leave my children. But I was feeling exhausted, empty, and unable to cope with many things. I was sick and tired of living in violence, of being full of bad news, war, death, threats, humiliation… Here, I am focusing on my English classes and meeting with many organisations which work to support freedom of speech, journalism and human rights. I have also had the chance to meet with many people who want to learn deeply about the Kurdish issue, and hope to find the time to continue working on my new book."
Nurcan BaysalAutumn 2019
Nurcan Baysal is a Kurdish writer and human rights defender from Diyarbakır, Turkey. She is the author of O Gün (That Day), Ezidiler: 73. Ferman (Ezidis: 73rd Verdict) and O Sesler (Those Voices), and co-author of Kürdistan’da Sivil Toplum (Civil Society in Kurdistan) with Seyhmus Diken. She has also written a book of shorts stories, Yok Zamanı (The Time of Nothingness).
In 2025, Nurcan published We Exist: Being Kurdish in Turkey, a collection of her writings published in local and international newspapers and magazines from 2015–2021 on Kurdish life, resistance, solidarity, and hope.
For many years, she has worked for the rights of the Kurdish population and in rural development. She is one of the founders of the Platform to Save Women Kidnapped by ISIS and the Diyarbakır Institute for Political and Social Research (DISA). She is a member of the women’s movement and several peace movements in Turkey, as well as an advisor or board member to a number of different non-profit organisations.
Nurcan has won several awards including the ‘Brave Women Journalists Award’ presented by the Italian Women Journalists Association in 2017, the Global Laureate for Human Rights Defenders at Risk by Front Line Defenders in 2018, and the Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award in 2020.
Nurcan has faced numerous repercussions for her work as a writer and activist, including being detained in 2018 because of her human rights work, having her home raided in 2019 for her reporting on Syria, and being arrested in 2020 for her coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.
Nurcan arrived in London in September 2019 to take part in a three-month residency with English PEN. As well as attending daily English lessons, Nurcan took part in events and meetings in Belfast, Edinburgh and London. She also attended numerous events, including the 2019 PEN Pinter Prize and the inaugural Anna Politkovskaya Memorial Lecture where she met one of her heroes, Svetlana Alexievich.
