Duygu Asena Novel Award goes to Neslihan Önderoğlu

The winner of this year's Duygu Asena Novel Award, organized by Doğan Kitap since 2007 to keep the memory and ideas of Duygu Asena alive, is Neslihan Önderoğlu for her novel 'Cüret', published by Everest Yayınları.

The award, presented by a selection committee chaired by Doğan Hızlan and consisting of Asuman Kafaoğlu-Büke, Filiz Aygündüz, İhsan Yılmaz, Elif Tanrıyar, Sibel Oral, and last year's winner Arlin Çiçekçi, was announced with the following justification:

"Neslihan Önderoğlu was deemed worthy of the award for her story in the novel Cüret, which recounts the resilience of the 'destitute and those who cannot find their place in society,' as well as for the competence of her narrative language and her ability to maintain integrity without letting the themes scatter."

'I AM HONORED'

In her acceptance speech, Neslihan Önderoğlu said, "I am honored that my novel Cüret was deemed worthy of this award, which is given in the name of an iconic figure like Duygu Asena. I will carry this responsibility and tradition just like my colleagues who received the award before me. I would like to thank the esteemed jury members."

The prize money for this year's award, which was open to novels written in Turkish and published by a publishing house operating in Turkey during 2023, was set at 20 thousand Turkish Lira.

The list of candidates selected by the Duygu Asena Novel Award jury is as follows:

• Aslı Ilgın Kopuz - Zaman Zaman Güneşli - Can Yayınları
• Aslı Tohumcu - Aç Koynunu Ben Geldim - İletişim Yayınları
• Çiler İlhan - Hayattayız Madem - Everest Yayınları
• Elif Akpolat - Unutmak - Kırmızı Kedi Yayınları
• Hande Ortaç - Sakinler - İletişim Yayınları
• Neslihan Önderoğlu - Cüret - Everest Yayınları
• Pınar Öğünç - Şu Anda Burada Mıyız? - Kolektif Kitap