Welcome to the second season of our series called “My Hand Holds a Pen, But Also a Glass.” In this series, I try to make you hear the prominent female voices of our literature. Of course, Aylin Balboa’s conversations are no strangers to her readers. Because as I always say, her writings are also in the name of a conversation. But I have proven to you that she is as sweet-talking as her writings. Aylin Balboa was born in İzmit in 1980. She continued her literary life, which she started with blog posts, with magazines and her first book, Belki Bir Gün Uçarız, published in 2014. This Story is Longer Than You, Osman, a collection of stories published in Ateş Sönene Kadar in 2021 and Kafa Magazine in 2022, came next. She is one of the powerful voices of this age. Here are some highlights of what Aylin said in this interview: I came to literature late. It is something that I have always felt lucky to come across on the road, find, say “a-ah what a beautiful toy” and find as a means of self-expression, and that came about by chance… …It is truly such a coincidence that I am so happy that I was able to find it. My struggle is always with life, like trying to hold on to what life is trying to tear from me. The more it matches the voice inside me, the more I am pleased with what I write. The first two months after the first book came out were perhaps the best two months of my life. I pull stories from deep inside. Not because it is my story, but because it is about its reflection inside me. Therefore, I tell it most comfortably as “me”. Both all of them are my stories and none of them are my stories. If only they knew how much those things change while writing… I wrote as such an Aylin in the first book. I tried to be a writer in the second book… …I remember the time I wrote the second book very specially. I think I continue to write because I can write it. I feel like SEKA raised me. Writing is a fiery thing for me. Stressful, really stormy. I feel like I am stuck in chaos. However, when I fix that text, correct it and something comes out, I feel calm inside. As always, we will both fly and fall. After accepting that life is like this, that joy, understatement, and humor begin. I try very hard for this from time to time. On the other hand, we live in a very cruel world, not just the things that happen to us. I realized that humor is the most important tool for survival. I guess happy love stories are not worth telling. Waiting is like a punishment for a person. Why is writing among all the arts that can be done? Because it can be done alone. Repairing is my way of life. Repairing the mind, repairing life, repairing what I write… I can call myself a repairer. I would probably be happy if lonely people and those who feel lonely read me. Sait Faik would go crazy if he didn’t write, and I would go crazy if I didn’t tell him. We are in a country full of incredible women. Let’s end our section by wishing that Aylin Balboa’s voice never stops? #denizyücebaşarır #elimkalemdetapkadehde #aylinbalboa #itikimyayınları