Zeliha Cenkci

Zeliha B. Cenkci, with their artists name Hz. Zallelujah, (b. 1995, Antalya, Turkey) lives in Berlin, Germany. They studied Philosophy and Literature at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, during which they worked as a translator, editor and journalist for various publishing houses and media organisations. Their poems, critiques and interviews have been published in well-known literary magazines in Turkey and America. Their first book, Odalar ve Şehir, was published by May Publishing (Rooms and Cities, 2018) and was awarded at the Arkadaş Z. Özger Poetry Awards in 2018. They produced the documentary Ritalin: Academic Drug, which was screened at various film festivals in 2020. They took part in the 17th Istanbul Biennial, Poetry Channel Project with their poems during 2022. After living in Istanbul for 8 years, they migrated to Berlin, Germany due to the rising political oppression in Turkey. Currently, they continue their second Master’s degree at Freie Univeristat Berlin on the Interdisciplinary Studies of the Middle East. On the one hand, the artist works as a workshopper at the Mobile University for Migrant Workers, organised by European Alternatives. Alongside their literary interest, they has a passion for photography, collage art and hip-hop. They are interested in decolonizing the working-class struggle, eco-feminist movements and intersectionality.