Mutlu Ergün-Hamaz

Ergün-Hamaz is married to Sofia Hamaz. She is an editor and social researcher. They lived in London for four years, until they moved back to Berlin in 2011. Their son, Jibril Yeshaya, was born in 2013.

From 2008 to 2012, along with friend Noah Sow, Ergün-Hamaz led a show called Edutainment Attacke! It was inspired by Ergün-Hamaz's novel, and Sow's novel Deutschland Schwarz Weiss. Der alltägliche Rassismus. The purpose was to create an entertaining and educational show in order to educate White people and People of Color about everyday racism in Germany. The show's success resulted in Ergün-Hamaz being approached by Unrast Verlag (de) in order to publish his novel.

As a child, Ergün-Hamaz wanted to be a lawyer, but when he grew up he was more interested in writing and literature. For him educational sciences was a good combination of psychology and sociology, that is why he decided to study Education and Contemporary German Literature at the Free University Berlin. After finishing his studies, Ergün-Hamaz moved to Great Britain in 2006. On the one hand to live with his partner Sofia Hamaz and on the other hand to start a master program in Race and Ethnic Relations at Birkbeck College, University of London. He finished his master studies in 2008 and began doing his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in the Sociology Department a year later. Recently, he has been doing qualitative research on German anti-racism practitioners for his dissertation.

In 2004, together with Deniz Utlu, Ergün-Hamaz began monthly "a thousand words deep" readings at Cafe VorWien to provide to writers and musicians of color with a platform to present their work. At the end of each session, Ergün-Hamaz or Utlu would then present their own readings. It was during this time that much of Ergün-Hamaz's novel was written, incorporating much of the live audience feedback. During this process the main character of the novel was also born. These performances were pivotal as they helped Ergün-Hamaz realize his love of making people laugh. He believes that laughter and humor help people to loosen and open up to ideas that challenge their worldview.

In 2001, Ergün-Hamaz joined Phoenix e.V. one of the oldest and largest anti-racism NGOs in Germany with over 500 members in more than 30 countries. Initially starting out as a trainee, it took him some seven years to truly understand the purpose of the company and what he was doing there. Ergün-Hamaz now sits on the extended board of the organization and facilitates regional groups in the Frankfurt area. He is also part of the Phoenix Train the Trainers meetings, which take place twice a year, where trainers and trainees have the opportunity to develop and learn.

His father had worked for a few years in public service, when in the early 1980s the house they lived in burnt down (who or what started the fire remained inconclusive). They were then moved into a housing cooperative for people working in public service in Westend (Berlin). Their family was the only Turkish-German family in the area. Merih Ergün, his brother, was a good student in Wedding, but after the move to Westend he struggled a lot in primary school which shaped his experience of the German education system significantly

Mutlu Ergün-Hamaz is a German author, social researcher, anti-racism trainer and performer. He was born on 2 June 1978 in Berlin, West Germany (now Germany). Ergün-Hamaz is best known for his debut novel Kara Günlük: Die Geheimen Tagebücher des Sesperado, published in Germany in 2010. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

Mutlu Ergün-Hamaz was born as Mutlu Ergün in 1978 in Berlin, Germany to Perihan and Muharrem Ergün. He has one older brother, Merih Ergün, who was born in 1972 in Berlin as well. Their father emigrated from West Anatolia in Turkey to Berlin in the 1960s as a gastarbeiter. He was interested in experiencing life in Germany but also in creating a better future for himself and his family. A few years later he brought his wife to Germany. He initially worked on construction sites, later as an interpreter and translator in public service. His wife worked as a cleaner, factory worker and finally as a kitchen help in a kindergarten. By moving to Germany they worked hard