Demirtaş: Writing is a Way to Resist and Overcome Prison

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been behind bars since November 4, 2016, has answered the questions of Kübra Yeter from the monthly culture, arts and literature magazine Yeni e.

Having published two story books "Seher" and "Devran" so far, Demirtaş has announced that he has finished writing his novel.

Demirtaş has also shared details about his experience of writing in prison and answered Yeter's questions on writer's 'envy':

'If I managed to finish a story, it was not me who was defeated, but the prison"

...But, still, when the tiniest idea comes to my mind, I just reach for a pen. I know that if I do not write at that exact moment, I will not write ever again. Generally, I write all night long till morning. Especially in summer, the room gets as hot as an oven, even the flies faint from the heat. I normally sweat a lot, I remember having written my snow- and cold-themed stories Baran'ın Beşiği, Ardiye and Gün Olur Devran Döner under these circumstances, wearing shorts and sweating a lot with a towel around my neck. The bed where I sat, the pillow where I leant were drenched in sweat. Even the pencil in my hand and the notebook were hot. But, even if I would tear up them all in the end, I did not stop before finishing. I always think of writing as a way to resist and overcome the prison, just to spite these conditions. And If I managed to finish a story in this hell, I slept well. That night, it was not me who was defeated, but the prison. A good feeling after all :)

(AÖ/SD)