Celal Altuntas

(Diyarbakir, 1972) came to the Netherlands from Turkish Kurdistan as a refugee at age 20. He described his youth in a tiny Kurdish village in his 2007 debut novel, Het dorp van de zeven broers (The Village of the Seven Brothers). At first he was happy there, until he started resisting the systematic discrimination of Kurds and joined the PKK. In 2016's Regen zonder modder (Rain Without Mud), he relates how he transformed into a social worker and writer in the Netherlands. He sketches a confronting picture of refugee life and the struggle to attain a place in our country. In 2015, Het is je zusje! (It's Your Sister!) appeared, eighteen true stories about honour and blood revenge, in which he takes the point of view of both victims and perpetrators. Besides being a writer, Altuntas is a social worker specializing in honour and blood revenge. As well, he is close to being an expert by experience. As a child he was obliged to revenge the murder of two uncles, but thanks to his peace-loving father was able to avoid it.