Ahmet Altan is one of Turkey's most significant authors and journalists. Born in 1950, Ahmet graduated from the Economics Department of Istanbul University. At 24, he became a journalist, working in many positions, from reporter to editor-in-chief. His first novel, Four Seasons of Autumn, published when he was 27, won the Grand Award of the Akademi Publishing House. His second novel Trace on the Water, in 1985, was banned due to obscenity. Dangerous Tales, 1996, became a bestseller and sold over two-hundred thousand copies. Like a Sword Wound, 1998, won the Yunus Nadi Novel Prize, its sales surpassing 500 thousand copies. In 2009, along with Roberto Saviano, he was awarded the prestigious 'Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media'. In 2011, he received the International Hrant Dink Award. His novels have been translated into many languages.
