‘The streets belong to us!’: An interview with writer Şeyda Kurt about Radical Tenderness¹

Şeyda Kurt already realized in her childhood: the streets belong to us. Last year, she has published the bestseller Radikale Zärtlichkeit: Warum Liebe politisch ist (‘Radical tenderness: Why love is political’) (2021) and graciously granted me an interview about what moves her as a journalist. The conversation took place in Café Südblock (‘Café South Block’) at Berlin’s Kotti (Kottbusser Tor in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district). That day the background noise was particularly high, even without music. Basically, it was not the best place for recording an interview but was in a way suitable for capturing the urban flair. Café Südblock provided us with the space to talk about labour migration, class issues and Radical Tenderness. In the following summary of the interview, Kurt answers the question about how tenderness and living together in the world are interwoven and how this can be related to her own biography.