As a writer, poet and civil society organiser from Turkey, Ege worked with PEN International for 9 years before being elected its youngest board member in over a 100 year history. There, he supported writers at risk, developing projects such as İlkyaz and Creative Witnesses before leading efforts to organize with colleagues from 62 countries to create the "Young Writers Committee". He is the founding editor and project lead for Tomorrow Club, developing collaborative structures for youth representation, cross-border exchange and local to international solidarity.
Most recently, Ege is connecting youth focused initiatives across PEN and sister organisations by co-founding the Young Voices Network alongisde Frankfurt Book Fair, the International Publishers Association, World Expression Forum, International Booksellers Federation and Fondazione Feltrinelli.
Writing
Dündar's debut poetry collection “All These Things Aren't Really Lost” was published in 2023 by BSPG which was featured in the anthology "Best New British and Irish Poets 2019-2021"
His writing was published in outlets such as Milliyet Daily, Daily Mirror, PEN Transmissions, Bosla Arts, Counterpoints Arts , PEN Opp and Mentour Magazine. He produced a report on the State of Exile Media in Europe for Körber Stiftung and worked as a researcher on Artistic Freedom for Free Muse and UNESCO.
He currently lives in Berlin and works at the Arts & Journalism department of non-profit media organisation Correctiv, focusing on public-interest storytelling and youth engagement by fusing forms of expression.
Exile from Turkey
The fable book, Duvar (The Wall) was written with his father, Can Dündar, a journalist unlawfully arrested in Turkey. Although he was released by a Supreme court decision, facing an assault by a gunman and illegal confiscations of assets and passports, the family were eventually forced to leave the country.
