In an unprecedented literary collaboration, jailed Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas and Turkish writer Yigit Bener have created one of Turkey’s highest-selling books, Duet in Purgatory. This crime novel, which delves into Turkey’s turbulent history and the Kurdish conflict, features a retired left-wing lawyer and a bitter ageing general with a tortuous past.
The two writers, separated by prison bars, developed the story over pen pal exchanges without ever discussing the plot. “It was a risky gamble to try and write a novel like you’d play chess, move by move, without agreeing on the plot, the characters or the style – nothing,” Demirtas shared in an interview from prison.
The project began when Bener, an author and translator, sent Demirtas a copy of Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s Journey to the End of the Night with a note expressing solidarity. Demirtas, the former co-president of Turkey’s third-largest political party, has been serving a 42-year sentence since 2016. His detention has been condemned as political by the European Court of Human Rights, which has called for his release.
“I couldn’t accept that this man for whom, like six million others, I had voted for, and whose ideas I share, found himself behind bars while I am free,” Bener explained.
The collaboration evolved from simple correspondence into a full-fledged novel, spanning 13 chapters. The duo wrote alternately, keeping the process enjoyable despite the serious circumstances. Demirtas’s publisher, Dipnot, initially printed 55,000 copies last month, with more planned for September.
“Our personal stories, mine and Yigit’s trajectories, contributed to shaping the novel. He motivated me when I needed it,” Demirtas noted. Bener attributed the novel’s success to its timely relevance. “The book poses the question of reconciliation through two characters from the same generation of losers who share the same feeling of defeat,” he said, emphasizing its resonance with a polarized Turkey.
The emotional highlight of their journey was when Bener received permission to meet Demirtas in Edirne prison on the book’s release day. Critics have lauded the “funny, fast-paced and spirited narrative,” with eager readers flocking to Bener’s bookshop tours to catch a glimpse of one half of the dynamic writing duo.
