Tuna Kiremitçi

Tuna Kiremitçi is a rare kind of artist, scarcely found in today’s world. He creates music, poetry, and novels—and has done so with remarkable consistency since the 1990s. He has always stood out as one of the most compelling and multifaceted artists of his generation. His musical journey began in 1993 with the indie rock band Kumdan Kaleler, a starting point that placed him in a distinctive position as a songwriter and urban troubadour. Drawing inspiration from poet-musicians such as Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Vladimir Vysotsky, Bob Dylan, Bülent Ortaçgil, and Mazhar Alanson, he forged a path that not only reflected his influences but also allowed him to connect meaningfully with the generations that followed. In the 2010s, the album trilogy Tuna Kiremitçi ve Arkadaşları, consisting of duets with some of Turkey’s leading female vocalists, elevated Kiremitçi to the peak of his career as a composer. His songs have been performed by a wide range of artists, from Haluk Levent to Ajda Pekkan, The Rainbow classic “Temple of the King” found a new life in Turkish as “Affet,” with Kiremitçi’s lyrics and Müslüm Gürses’s unforgettable interpretation. In the 2020s, his “Poet’s Songs” tour brought literature and music together on stage, marking a pioneering moment in this fusion. His novels have been published in 17 languages worldwide, with several adapted for cinema and theater. Today, he remains one of Turkey’s foremost novelists, particularly renowned for his crime fiction.