Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç is a political scientist, freelance author and poet. In spring 2023, his highly acclaimed book Muslimaniac. Die Karriere eines Feindbildes was published in a new edition by Verbrecher Verlag. In addition to academic texts, Keskinkılıç writes columns, essays, prose, radio plays and poetry. His poems are published in various literary journals and anthologies and translated into various languages, including English, Italian and Kazakh. His poetry debut Prinzenbad was published by ELIF Verlag in 2022. His lyrical works have been presented as part of multimedia art exhibitions at the Grassi Museum Leipzig, the Literaturpassage Vienna and most recently at the ACUD Gallery in Berlin. In addition to the Heidelberg Clemens Brentano Prize, Keskinkılıç has also been nominated for this year’s Dresden Poetry Prize; the jury considers the outstanding features of his writing to include »language that creates open visual and perceptual spaces, sharply contrasted with hard-hitting irony, working with clichés and attributions, humor and a high degree of variability«. Keskinkılıç is currently writing a novel.
