About Me

Zeynep ÇOLAKOĞLU

Author, Music Writer, Chemical Engineer MSc., Degustator

In the early 2000s, she created her fanzine Acedia, which combined black metal and literature. Between 2007-2009, she prepared cover stories and wrote short stories for Karakalem Underground Literature Magazine, under the editorial direction of Altay Öktem. She also wrote articles introducing local bands for the "Gürültü (Noise)" supplement of Yüxexes magazine.

She authored a dictionary on heavy metal titled Büyülü Sözlük (Dictionary the Enchanted), Marjinal Kitaplar, 2013). Together with Altay Öktem, she translated When Prozac No Longer Helps (Prozac Artık Yetmediğinde, Marjinal Kitaplar, 2014), a poetry book by Niklas Kvarforth, founder of the Swedish black metal band Shining.

Her first book, Mina (Nezih-Er, 2016), written in the gothic horror and psychological thriller genres, won the III. Kurşun Kalem Story Award (III. Kurşun Kalem Öykü Ödülü). From 2016 to 2018, she served on the editorial board of Kurşun Kalem Literary Magazine and was the editor-in-chief of issues 47 and 48.

Her short story Medusa, included in the anthology  Karanlıktaki Kadınlar (Women in the Dark), Bilgi Yayınevi, 2018), was translated into English and published in Trafika Europe 16: Turkish Delight, an issue dedicated to promoting European literature in the U.S.

She co-authored the short story collection İstanbul’un Karanlığında (Within the Darkness of Istanbul), Karakarga, 2020) with writer Orkide Ünsür.

https://cld.bz/users/user-N5y4U8g/Trafika-Europe-Quarterly/TE16-Turkish-Delight

She collaborated with writer Hakan Balcı on dark humor stories for Lemur e-magazine and Kurşun Kalem Literary Magazine. Their co-authored dark humor book, Korkuyu Bekleyenler (Anticipators of Fear), Bilgi Yayınevi, 2021), was recognized as an innovative and unconventional work in literary writing.

She edited Bilme Arzusu (Desire for Knowledge), Doruk Yayınları, 2021), a book on mathematics, philosophy of science, and psychoanalysis by Prof. Dr. Beno Kuryel.

Combining her expertise in chemical engineering with wine tasting, she has written articles about wine and conducted workshops on wine tasting. She has authored two books on wine: Şarap Koyusu (Wine Dark), Karakarga, 2021 and Maya Büyüsü  (The Magic of Yeast) Karakarga, 2024).

She holds a WSET certification in wine and has attended courses such as "Wine and Wine Production Technologies" by Prof. Dr. Hatice Kalkan Yıldırım (Ege University Food Engineering), "Viticulture and Winemaking" (Istanbul Arel University), "UC Davis: Sensory Techniques in Wine Analysis," "Phytotherapy," "Aromatherapy," Vedat Ozan's "Fundamentals of Scent," and EPS Fragrances' "Fragrance and Perfume." She received IWC, AWC, and "Dağdan Bağa" training from Selen Gözen as part of the International Sommelier Guild Certificate Program.

A member of Apelasyon Wine Tasting Association, one of Izmir’s first tasting groups, she has written articles for the e-magazine Apelasyon.com. She prepared a promotional booklet for Kuval Wines.

She has organized alternative workshops merging wine tasting with art, literature, and sensory analysis. Examples include:

• "Wine and Horror" with wine expert Umut Öner,
• "From Vineyards to Verses" at IWSA with wine expert Ayça Budak and poet Altay Öktem,
• "Wine and Women" with painter Halil Sezgin at Usca Wines,
• "Tasting Awareness and Meditation" with yoga instructor Yasemin Dinçer,
• "Wine Seminars" on the scientific perspective of wine with the Social Events Committee of the Chamber of Chemical Engineers Izmir Branch.

In February 2025, she held a six-week “Şarap Koyusu Sensory Analysis: Wine Tasting and Gastronomy” workshop at Bewater İzmir Book Café.

She designed board games titled “Şarap Koyusu Aroma Çemberi” and “Kadeh Dedektifi.” The launch of “Şarap Koyusu Aroma Çemberi” took place in February 2024 at Monolitera Bookstore (Bostanlı, İzmir), and the launch of “Kadeh Dedektifi” was held in February 2025 at Bewater İzmir Book Café.

Her articles have appeared in Varlık, Mikrop, Karahindiba, Kadın Harekatı, Bataklık, Apelasyon.com, Lemur e-magazine, and Monozine e-magazine.

She is a music writer for Headbang, Turkey’s leading metal magazine. In her English-language e-magazine Black Metal Chronicles, she examines black metal as a subculture.

She continues to write columns on music, wine, and literature for Filhakikat.net e-magazine and on gothic literature and horror for Darkkitap.com. With M. Nejva İnceler, she shares tasting notes, vineyard tours, and wine education content on the bilingual Sarap Koyusu (Wine-Dark) Website.

She publishes a fanzine called “Vinolettera” with poet Erkut Tokman, centered on wine, literature, mythology, and humor. To explore the vinous universe where flavor is carried by words on the journey back to life’s roots: Vinolettera

Memberships:

Fantasy and Science Fiction Arts Association (FABISAD)

Apelasyon Izmir Tasting Association

Chamber of Chemical Engineers

Works:

• Büyülü Sözlük (Dictionary the Enchanted), research - 2013, Marjinal Kitaplar Publishing House
• Mina (novella) - 2016, Nezih-Er Publishing
• İstanbul’un Karanlığında (Within the Darkness of İstanbul), co-authored) - 2020, Karakarga Publishing
• Şarap Koyusu (Wine Dark), research) - 2021, Karakarga Publishing
• Korkuyu Bekleyenler (Anticipators of Fear), co-authored - 2021, Bilgi Yayınevi
• Maya Büyüsü (The Magic of Yeast), research - 2024, Karakarga Publishing

Anthology Contributions:

• Kara Şiir Antolojisi (Anthology of Black Poetry), essay - 2013, Kafekültür Publishing/Zeplin
• Karanlıktaki Kadınlar (Women in the Dark), short story - 2018, Bilgi Yayınevi
• Hayalet Müzik (Ghost Music), short story - 2019, Artemis Publishing
• Hayalet Müzik-II: Eskilerin Şöleni (Ghost Music II: Feast of the Old), short story - 2021, Artemis Publishing
• İnadına Kadınım Kadınsın Kadınız (Defiantly Women), short story) - 2022, Kekeme Publishing
• Dark Gerilim (Dark Thriller), short story) - 2023, Dark Istanbul
• Ayin (Ritual), short story - 2024, Dark Istanbul

Translations:

• When Prozac No Longer Helps (Prozac Artık Yetmediğinde, co-translated with Altay Öktem) - 2014, Marjinal Kitaplar

Editor:

• Desire for Knowledge (Bilme Arzusu, by Prof. Dr. Beno Kuryel) - 2021, Doruk Publishing

Web:

• On Wine: Wine-Dark Website (TR/EN)
• On Gothic Literature and Horror: Dark Kitap
• On Metal Music: Black Metal Chronicles

Contact:

Instagram: @elizzeynepclakoglu, @sarapkoyusu

Email: zeynepcolakoglu2023@gmail.com, sarapkoyusu@gmail.com

                                                                               ***

MINA (Nezih-Er Publishing House) Paperback– April 23, 2016

218 pages

III. Kursun Kalem Literary Magazine Award in December 2015, Izmir/ TURKEY

(Kursun Kalem Literary Award jury includes foremost authors, poets from Turkish literature as Feyza Hepçilingirler, İsmail Mert Başat, Gültekin Emre, Hayri K.Yetik, Hülya Soyşekerci and Mine Ömer)

by Zeynep Çolakoğlu  (Author),‎ Mine Ömer  (Editor).

Cover Art by Aynan Çolakoğlu (aynanart)

Character drawings by Lisa Cooper 

MINA

Mina is a horror story book including nine nested stories that took the Kursun Kalem Literary Magazine Award in December 2015 and published by Nezih Er Publishing House in April 2016.

Mina presents a nightmare universe to the readers where they can experience musical background of the stories, feel the cycle of the existence while the characters wander throughout the book and show up in other stories also as if in a novella.

The first story Arzunun Kanatları (Wings of Desire) tells about how strong desire can influence a painter and destroy her life in catastrophic way but also help her to divert the creativity towards her longing freedom. The language is in more poetical form and it is rather a short story in the book.

ZIFIR

Zifir (Pitch Black) is the main story of the book that also hosts a strong character and a shaman called Mina who gives her name to the entire book. It is about a travel that character Zifir searches for the healing of melancholy and writes down methods in a mysterious book having a protection spell that the articles disappear if one reads it. Mathematics (reference to Platon's academy), music, psychoanalysis, blood-sucking by a vampire to get rid of excessive black bile from the vein (reference to four humor theory) and shamanic rituals are the healing methods that Zifir has come across on his mystical journey. The Story emphasizes the cyclic nature of melancholy and puzzles the reader to think if there is any healing throughout this fictional journey.

The other stories with titles and their topics from book are briefly like this;

Akasya (Acacia); Evil eye event in a small town related with Greek mythology and myths related with moon goddess Selene from Aegean region.

Düş Kokusu (The Dream Scent); A nightmare where narrator wakes up to another dream continuously, a dream within dream surrounded by hallucinations coming from the fragrance wheel that narrator meets in dreams. Fragrances create dreams that turn into nightmares in narrator’s mind.

Donmuş Düşler (Frozen Dreams); A story of a painter from Svalbard, Norway where she experiences to create an art that is an extension of human body. That experience makes her a merciless murderer due to her motivation originating from Goddess Invidia, one of the seven sins known as envy that feeds her emotions towards her lover who has the breathtaking blue eyes.

Durmaksızın Yükselen Melodi (Continuously Ascending Melody); Melancholy is forgotten in the world for a long time but one day God of melancholy returns to world because of an enchanting, melancholic guitar solo written by using high mathematics by a musician. That forgotten god awakes and takes the musician's life to exist in our world again.



Kan Illüzyonları (Blood Illusions); A story of shamanic ritual takes place in middle Asia, Samarkand. It is about reincarnation of an ancient witch by using the power of Elizabeth Bathory who is a foremost influential person in her life.

COUNTESS

POET

Ölümün Şiir Hali (Poetic Tune of Death); a dead poet resurrects when a translator starts to translate his poems. This is a story including intensive suffering of the translator during this translation that goes a wild suicide in the end.

Ecel (Fate); this is the final story in the book which was written first hence contributes to eternal return throughout the book also. Story is about characters from the stories in the book discussing about existentialism with their own words. Ecel, as the muse of Dark Arts reveals more clearly by inspiring the artistic characters who are into dark creations throughout the book.   

In contrast the darkness of Ecel, a character as the symbol of shining light called Nisan reads a mysterious book that helps her to break the wall of sleep and enter into another universe where she meets a malicious character called Kayra who has been trying to enter to the real world by manipulating her.

The stories carry influences from Lacanian psychoanalysis ,philosophical approach of Nietzsche and melancholy concepts. Music and wine are seen in the background of the stories to create ecstasy.

ECEL