Peren Birsaygılı Mut was the winner of Global Justice Award for 2022
Who is Peren Birsaygılı Mut?
Peren Birsaygılı Mut was born in Izmir, Turkey and has been interested in literature since youth. She has worked as scriptwriter and researcher on several multi-episode Documentary projects for TRT Turk such as Memories and Emotions in the Footsteps of Recent History (2008) related to the Ottoman Empire’s WWI withdrawal from the Middle East, Traces of Turks in Africa (2008-09) and Yesterday Today Tomorrow (2011-12). With the production company Farabi Film she has worked on projects for Al Jazeera Arabic and English such as Turkish-Arab Relations Throughout History(2010) and Common Pain 1915 (2011) and was Producer as well as Scriptwriter on several TRT Documentaries series such as Fifty-Five Day Story – Western Thrace Turkish Republic (2014) Love in Exile (2016) and Untold Story of Squares- Marrakesh (2018). Her 2019 book Zeytin Ağaçlarının Arasında (Among the Olive Trees: Portraits of Palestinian Literature) introduces resistance literature and many important writers and poets of Palestine to a Turkish readership and her articles and translations have appeared in many magazines and websites. She is currently Publisher/Editor of the Turkish small press Farabi Kitap. http://www.farabikitap.com.tr/
The jury supervising the annual Global Justice Prize for the year 2022 decided to award its medal and the shield of the esteemed poet Nizar kabbani to the Turkish writer and journalist Peren Birsaygılı Mut, for her role in defending the cause of the Syrian people and her rejection of the role of some intellectuals who promote tyranny, such as the poet Adonis.
Why did we choose the Nizar Kabbani medal?
This year, our organization chose a Syrian (iconic) personality who lives in the memory and conscience of Syrians, to engrave his face on its medal. That personality is the great Damascene poet Nizar kabbani, whose poems and books have been translated into dozens of languages around the world, and who was known for his rejection of injustice and tyranny and his defense of the freedom of society and the right to… Women in thinking, until his title became “the poet of Arab women.”
Nizar kabbani’s name was associated with Damascus, about which he wrote his famous poems. Poems memorized by children and hidden by teenagers under their pillows, composed and sung by famous musicians and singers in the Arab world.
Nizar Tawfiq kabbani (21 March 1923 – 30 April 1998) was a Syrian diplomat, poet, writer and publisher. He is considered to be Syria’s National Poet. His poetic style combines simplicity and elegance in exploring themes of love, eroticism, religion, and Arab empowerment against foreign imperialism and local dictators
Why did we choose Taksim masque for this Award?
We chose the cultural center in “Taksim” Mosque, in the heart of Istanbul, to convey a rebuttal to those who claimed that the Syrian revolution is a terrorists’ uprising because it emerged from mosques. To us, a mosque is not merely a place of worship, but rather a cultural convergence point, where arts, cultures, and diverse opinions intersect, reflecting the myriad thoughts and directions of Syrians.
At the Global Justice ceremony held in Taksim Mosque, the renowned opera singer “Lubana Al Quntar” hosted the event. In attendance were Syrian and Turkish thinkers, politicians, writers, and female authors.
