Poet
(b. 2 April 1929, Kayseri - d. 14 March 1995, İstanbul). He attended Kayseri
Etiler Primary School (1941) and graduated from Konya Kuleli Military High
School (1947) and School of Land Warfare (1949). After graduating from the School
of War, he had duties in the army as an engineering officer. From 1951 on he
served in military units in Karacabey (Bursa), Ezine (Çanakkale), Ankara and
Kırklareli. At the same time, he graduated from Ankara Faculty of Law (1961).
In the year 1969, he discharged himself from the army and he began working at
the Press Advertising Organization. In 1978, he became an assistant to the
general director of this organization. He died while in this position.
His first poem Türk (Turkish) was published in the
paper Kayseri (İkinci Kânun -
First Law, 1942). His first poem in a magazine of literature Yurdumun Dağlarına (To the Mountains of My Country) was
published in the magazine Çınaraltı
(issue: 49, 29 August 1942). His other poems and essays were published in the
magazines Çınaraltı (1942-48), Şadırvan (1948), Ülkü (1948), Hisar
(1950-57, 1964-80, founder and member of the writing committee), Varlık (1957), Türk Yurdu (1960), Türk Dili
(1960-94), Türk Edebiyatı (1972-95,
one of the founders and to which he gave the name), İnanç (1984), Millî Kültür (1984-88).
He was one of the founders of the magazine Hisar
and became one of the most widely known poets of the magazine.
He wrote poems that were the products
of precision built on new inventions, together with benefiting from tradition.
He was awarded the first prize in a competition held by the Musical Industry
Foundation in 1981 with his research on Karacaoğlan. He won first prize in the
poetry competition held by the Ministry of Culture in 1981, which commemorated
the 100th anniversary of Atatürk’s birth with his book named Kuşlar ve İnsanlar (The Birds and the
Humans, 1981) and he received the Ankara Journalists Association Poetry Award
in 1982 with the same work. He also received the Writers Union of Turkey Poetry
Award in 1985 with his book named Kerem
ile Aslı (Kerem and Aslı). In 1984, he was chosen as the poet of the year
by the magazine İnanç. His poems
under the title Hürriyet Çağına Destan
(Epic for the Generation of Freedom), which were not collected in a book, were
broadcast on Ankara Radio in special programs in 1964 and 1965. His poem named Bu Dünyadan Biz de Bir Gün Gideriz (We
Also Shall Leave This World One Day) was set to music in the style of classical
Turkish music by İsmail Ötenkaya.
WORKS:
POETRY: Sevmek Varken (While We have The Way of Love, 1972), Güvercin Uçurmak (Setting Pigeons Free,
1977), Kuşlar ve İnsanlar (The Birds
and Humans, 1982), Kerem İle Aslı (Kerem
and Aslı, epic, 1985), Ses
Mimarlarımız'dan Şiirler (Poems from Our Architects of Sound, 1995).
RESEARCH: Karacaoğlan (Karacaoğlan, 1973).