Pinar Selek, Acrobatic Feminism and Combat Poetry
Investigation by Christian Rinaudo and Éric Mangion
Born in 1971 in Istanbul, Pinar Selek is a Turkish writer, sociologist and activist. In exile in France after fleeing the Turkish dictatorship and prison, she tells us about her experience, her struggles and her vision of a world undergoing a process, in her own words, of “rhinocerisation.” An exclusive interview with Christian Rinaudo and Eric Mangion for Switch (on Paper).
From a “wealthy, literate and white family,” Pinar (pronounced P’nar) Selek grew up in a libertarian spirit. Her mother’s pharmacy and the family house were “group homes” where all sorts of personalities came to debate and put the world to rights. Following General Kenan Evren coming to power on 12 September 1980, her father, a…