Gülşah Özdemir Koryürek
Biography
She was born in Istanbul in 1984. She lived the early years of her life in the Taşdelen Forests, keeping the pinecones company, because of her grandfather’s job. She spent her primary and middle school years weeding her grandmother’s garden, climbing plum trees, cracking olives, sewing dresses for dolls, publishing a newspaper and performing Karagöz puppet shows.
In 1998, she discovered theatre and found happiness in it. Her educational background is in the field of Accounting and Tax Management, and International Relations. She received training in various fields, such as Acting, Directing and Directing Design at Antalya Municipal Theater and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Performing Arts Center, and as a Creative Drama Instructor at the Contemporary Drama Association. She worked as an apprentice to many masters in the fields of theater, documentary cinema and literature.
Gülşah is a woman who has been writing stories since she learned to read and write. She has performed some of these stories with children and adults on the stage; some have been published in newspapers or as a book, some turned into documentary films. And some of them have lived in the imaginary world of children, spreading by word of mouth.
She became the mother of Çakıl in 2013 and continued writing, playing and discovering with her. In 2005, Sıfırdan Publishing House was founded, and she pursued new stories there. She produced books full of dreams with other writers and illustrators. She met, played, laughed, and sang with other children there.
She wants to live with the title of “The Witch of the Plays” given to her by children, climb the fig tree in her garden, write and read more, see more squirrels and yes, stop global warming.
Books: Küçük Çakıl Taşının Denize Yolculuğu, İstiridye Masal Anlatıyor, İnci Tanesi, Renkli Balık Yeni Dünyalar Kâşifi, Astro ve Babi Ay’a Tırmanıyor, Kreta the Time Traveler “Consume Less or the World Will be Consumed”
Plays: Nina’nın Rüyası, Küresel Şaşırma, Tarihin Şiirli Sayfalarında Kadın
Documentaries: Yansıma (Author, TRT Avaz), Shakespeare in Turkey (Author, Culture and Tourism Ministry), Ve… Perde! (Author, Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts)