#24 Özgecan Kesici, writer

'If you spot me at the Berlin State Library, it's usually a sign that I'm struggling to concentrate'

Özgecan Kesici is a researcher, translator and writer whose work has appeared in Stadtsprachen, Banshee, Poetry Ireland Review and the anthology Local Wonders (Dedalus Press, 2021), among others. Her debut poetry collection is set to be released in 2024. She has translated Rakhymzhan Otarbayev's Kazakh short stories for publication by Dağyeli Verlag, 2023. She is the recipient of an Irish Arts Council Agility Award and Literature Bursary and she is currently completing edits on her debut novel: Silver is Lighter, an historical female epic for which she was awarded a 2022 Berlin Senate Literature Work Stipend.

Where do you write?
I love my desk at home, where I do most of my writing. If you spot me at the Berlin State Library, it's usually a sign that I'm struggling to concentrate or overcome writer's block.

Morning writer or late-night words?
I prefer to write in the late afternoon, when my mind is clearest. Unfortunately this isn’t the best time, as my daughter returns from Kindergarten around then, so I’ve been training myself to become a morning writer.

Coffee, tea, or any other drinks?
Two cups of coffee a day. If I'm still working later in the day, I'll switch to tea.

Handwritten notes or phone files?
I write poems by hand, although I sometimes use my phone for quick notes when I'm on the go.

Something to nibble while you write?
No nibbles.

What's your most tempting distraction?
My phone, housework and admin. My daughter, if she is home.

Any desk essentials?
My mechanical keyboard, my favourite pens and a notebook or two. Also, the poetry collections I’m currently obsessed with.

What's on the speakers?
I don’t listen to anything if I’m in the zone or need to get work done. I might listen to my curated playlist for the month if I'm doing lighter writing or admin. The playlist usually includes a diverse range of music, from Kazakh folklore to hip hop, R&B, and pop.

Writer uniform?
I like to keep things comfortable: under-eye concealer, socks and slippers.

What are your pre-writing rituals?
Wordle of the day, a walk after dropping my child off in the morning.

Perfect bookshop to hide on a rainy day?
Curious Fox [in Berlin]. I enjoy the selection of secondhand and new books. I'm always rushing to respond to the first dibs email, where you can claim first dibs on newly arrived secondhand books.

What's your most treasured book?
My first children’s anthology of poems, I used to read from it out loud in my room.

The best word in the English language?
Cacophonous.

Three writers (dead or alone) to have dinner with:
Maghzhan Zhumabay (a Kazakh poet who was killed during Stalin’s purges), Natalie Diaz and my mother when she was a child and still writing poems.