About the Author
Zenife Pinar was born in 1949 in Samsun, Turkey. Her beloved grandfather, a Crimean Tatar, gave her the name of his own mother a gesture of affection that would shape her sense of identity. The eldest of three children in a civil servant family, she picked up a pen at a young age and never put it down, turning writing into a lifelong passion.
Her childhood and adolescence were spent moving back and forth between Istanbul and Ankara. When the family first relocated from Samsun to Istanbul due to her father`s job, she lived with them briefly before another transfer took them to Ankara. At that point, Zenife remained in Istanbul in the loving care of her grandparents an arrangement that gave her both a deep sense of belonging and an aching longing for her parents and siblings.
Due to frequent school transfers between Istanbul and Ankara, her education was marked by constant change. She married at a young age in Ankara and was unable to pursue higher education, but her devotion to writing only grew stronger. Her talent became evident early on, as she frequently won top prizes for her essays and compositions during her school years.
In the heyday of radio theatre in Turkey, a number of her scripts were performed by renowned voice actors such as Olcay Poyraz and Sönmez Atasoy. Though she has many short stories she describes as "hidden treasures," four of her novels have been published to date. She is currently working on her fifth novel, which she considers her magnum opus.
Zenife Pınar draws strength and inspiration from her family. She often refers to her two sons-one a retired lieutenant colonel, the other a businessperson-as her "elixirs of life," along with her "kind-hearted" daughters-in-law and her two granddaughters, whom she lovingly calls "the loves of my life."