Pelin Batu

Pelin Batu — Biography

Pelin Batu was born on 27 December 1978 in Ankara, the granddaughter of poet Selahattin Batu and the daughter of diplomat İnal Batu and Nevra Batu. Her father's postings took the family abroad during her childhood; she finished high school at the Marymount School in New York, studied music and theatre at Mannes College, and began university in literature and philosophy at NYU before switching to history, which she completed at Boğaziçi University, later earning a master's degree and a doctorate there.

She entered film in 1999 with Harem Suare and went on to appear in Komser Şekspir, O Şimdi Asker, Pars: Kiraz Operasyonu, Hicran Sokağı and Grev. On television she has hosted several history and culture programs, notably Tarihin Arka Odası alongside Murat Bardakçı and Erhan Afyoncu. A poet since childhood, she published her first collection, Cam, in 2003 and has released several books since; she also wrote a column for Milliyet newspaper from 2013 to 2014.