Chimene Suleyman

Suleyman was born in London, but her father's family are from Northern Cyprus. She has written about her grandfather's death in 1964, when he was tortured and killed by soldiers, and his body, with a dozen others, seen in a much-reproduced photograph.[5]

Along with Dylan Sage, Suleyman created the monthly spoken-word event "Kid, I Wrote Back" in London, which ran from 2010 until at least 2013.[6]

In 2014, a writer on sexism called Laura Bates chose Suleyman's poetry collection Outside Looking On[1] as one of her "best books" of the year, saying that it "presents startlingly perceptive snapshots of human experience, delving powerfully into themes that range from big-city loneliness and longing, to prejudice and love".[7][8]

In 2017, Suleyman was a contributor to the crowdfunded publication The Good Immigrant, and in 2019 contributed to and co-edited its sequel, The Good Immigrant USA.[9]

In 2021, Suleyman, Monisha Rajesh and professor Sunny Singh criticised aspects of Kate Clanchy's Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me and the response to their criticism.[10][11] Suleyman said: "Despite being accomplished writers and teachers on structural racism and colonialism, Professor Sunny Singh, author Monisha Rajesh, and myself became invisible to authors who endorsed this book, speaking only with white authors, whilst simultaneously expressing denigrating racially charged views of us."[12]

• Suleyman, Chimene (2014). Outside Looking On. London: Influx. ISBN 9780992765552.
• Suleyman, Chimene (2017). "My Name is My Name". In Shukla, Nikesh (ed.). The Good Immigrant. London: Unbound. ISBN 9781783522965.
• Suleyman, Chimene (2019). "On Being Kim Kardashian". In Shukla, Nikesh; Suleyman, Chimene (eds.). The Good Immigrant USA: 26 writers reflect on America. London. ISBN 9780349700366.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)