Poet and writer, translator (b. 10 June 1935, Samsun – d. 24 June 2014,
İstanbul ). He is originally from Şarkışla. He attended the Samsun İnönü
Primary School and the Samsun High School (1955), and graduated from Ankara
University, Faculty of Political Sciences (1960). He worked as civil officer in
Samsun, as the governor of the districts of Mesudiye, Derze, Vezirköprü, Ladik,
Darende and Esbiye (1960-65); as the director of periodical publications at the
Ministry of Tourism (1965-67); as an expert at the National Center for
Productivity (1969-71); as a producer and director at the Ankara television of
the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, and columnist in newspapers,
particularly in the newspaper Günaydın (1973-93). He worked as an
economist in the Ministry of Agriculture in Belgium. After being expelled from
his duty at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation after the military
coup on 12 March 1971, he became a lecturer at İstanbul University. He is a
member of the Writers Syndicate of Turkey, Turkish Association of Journalists
and Travel Writers, and the Mulkiye Alumni.
His poems and translations have been published
on in reviews such as Türk Dili, Varlık, Yazko Edebiyat, and Papirüs
after 1955. He collected the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
Scientific Research Award in 1970, and the Yazko Grand Award for Translation in
1982 with his translation Rimbaud'dan Seçme Şiirler (Selected Poems of
Rimbaud). He introduced many important works of famous poets, novelists and men
of thought of the Western literature into Turkish with his translations. His
radio sketch Kör Oldum Veysel Oldum (I Went Blind and then Veysel) was
played on the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s radios in 1997.
WORKS
POETRY: Güneş Tozları (Dusts of Sun,
1958), Ekuanil Çiçekleri (Flowers of Ekuanil, 1964), Kerem
Gibi (Like Kerem, 1969), Kuş Ormanı (The Forest of Birds, 1981),
Kıyı (The Coast, 1983), Eylül Çalgıcısı (The September's Musician,
collected poems, 1985; new edition with additions and exclusions, 1994),
Elimde Güller ve Rüzgâr (Roses and Wind in my Hand, 1992), Kerem Gibi (Like
Kerem, with additions of folk poems, 2000), Eylül Çalgıcısı (The
September's Musician, collected poems with additions, 2004), Sfenks (The
Sphinx, 2005).
ANTHOLOGY: Bahar Şiirleri Antolojisi (An
Anthology of Poems on Spring, in collaboration with T. Hayrioğlu, 1958),
Millî İnkılap Nasıl Oldu? (How Did the National Revolution Take Place?, in
collaboration with T. Uzunhasanoğlu, 1960), 100 Aşk Şiiri (100 Love
Poems, 1998), Hapishane Şiirleri (Poems of Jail, 2003).
NOVEL: Kör Oldum Veysel Oldum (I Went
Blind and then Veysel, 1991).
STUDY: Kitle
İletişim Araçları (Means of Mass Communication, 1975), Sembolizm (Symbolism,
1985), İçimizdeki İnsan (Human within us, 1992), Ateş Hırsızı Arthur
Rimbaud (Arthur Rimbaud, the Thief of Fire, 1993), Düş Gezgini Gérard de
Nerval (Gérard de Nerval, the Traveler of Dreams, 1994), Karanlıklar
Prensi Baudelaire (Baudelaire the Prince of Darkness, 1995), Şiir Sanatı
(The Art of Poetry, 1995), Paris Komünü ve Komün Şairleri (The Paris
Commune and Poets of the Commune, 1996), 1789 Devrim Şarkıları (Revolutionary
Songs of 1789, 1997), Baudelaire ve Satanizm (Baudelaire and Satanizm,
1999), Hapishane Şiirleri (Poems of Jail, 2002), Elsa'nın Mecnunu
Aragon (Aragon the Insane of Elsa, with additions, 2003), Alevî
Mitolojisi (The Alawit Mythology, 2005), Arthur Rimbaud Yaşamı Sanatı
Şiirlerinden Örnekler (Arthur Rimbaud, His Life and Art and Samples from
His Poetry, 2005), Şiir Sanatı (The Art of Poetry, with additions,
2005).
MEMOIR: Âşık
Veysel'den Nükteler (Anecdotes from Âşık Veysel, 2001).
Besides, he
made translations from famous poets such as P. Verlaine, A. Rimbaud, C.
Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Aragon, Pablo Neruda, and Lord Byron and from famous
authors like J. P. Sartre, Balzac, E. Zola, Mayakovski and S. Freud.
REFERENCE: Cemal Süreya / Mülkiyeli Şairler (1966) - Günler (1996, s. 251), Mücellidoğlu Ali Çankaya / Yeni Mülkiye Tarihi ve Mülkiyeliler (c. VI, 1969), Yurt Ansiklopedisi (c. VIII, 1982-1983), Ataol Behramoğlu / Son Yüzyıl Büyük Türk Şiiri Antolojisi (1993), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (gen. 6. bas. 1999), TBE Ansiklopedisi (2001), Erdoğan Alkan / Eylül Çalgıcısı (3. bas. 2004), Asuman Kafaoğlu-Büke / Balla Billurlaşan Şiirler (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 14.7.2005), Gazeteci Erdoğan Alkan vefat etti (hurriyet.com.tr, 20 Haziran 2014),TYB Kültür ve Sanat Yıllığı (2015).