Poet and writer
(B. 13 May 1919,
He worked as a playwright and film director for seven years. He did his
first screenplay experiment with Dolandırıcılar Şahı (Shah of the Embezzlers) in 1960. He wrote
screenplays for important films such as Otobüs
Yolcuları (Bus Passengers), Üç
Tekerlekli Bisiklet (Bicycle with Three Wheels), and Karanlıkta Uyananlar (Those
Who Wake up in the Dark). He began
directing with Sokakta Kan Vardı (There
Was Blood on the Street) the script
of which he wrote in 1965. With his play Dallar Yeşil Olmalı (Stems Should Be Green), he received the Achievement Award from the
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation Art Awards Competition in 1970; with
his novel, Bir Gün Tek Başına (One
Day Alone), he received first prize in the 1974 Novel competition of Milliyet
Publications and with the same work
he received the 1976 Orhan Kemal Novel Award. Karanlıkta
Uyananlar (Those Who Wake up in the
Dark, 1965) and Kara Çarşaflı Gelin (Bride
With a Black Chador, 1977), for which he wrote the screenplays, both received
the Best Screenplay Award at the Antalya Film Festival. The films Bedrana (Bedrana) and Güneşli Bataklık
(Sunny Marsh) for which he wrote the screenplays, received the Cidalc and
Workers Syndicates Special Award at the Carlovy Vary Film Festival. The
characters written by Turkali, who sees the responsibility of the novelist as
reflecting his time appropriately, are vibrant people fighting against the problems
of the society they live in.
WORKS:
PLAY: 141. Basamak (141st Step,
performed in
SCREENPLAY: Üç Film Birden (Three Films in One, Kara
Çarşaflı Gelin, -Bride in a Black Chador, Güneşli
Bataklık - Sunny Bog, Analık Davası -Motherhood Lawsuit, 1979, Eski Filmler -Old Films, 1985).
NOVEL: Bir Gün Tek Başına (One
Day Alone, 1974), Mavi Karanlık (Blue
Darkness, 1983), Yeşilçam Dedikleri
Türkiye (Turkey That They Call Yeşilçam, 1986), Tek Kişilik Ölüm (Death of One Person, 1990), Güven 1-Savaş Yılları-Kara Duvarın Gölgesi (Trust 1 -War Years-The Shadow of the Black Wall, 1999), Güven 2: Savaş Bitiyor - Savaş
Başladı (Trust 2-The War is
Ending- The War is Starting, 1999), Kayıp
Romanlar (Lost Novels, 2004).
POETRY: Eski Şiirler Yeni Türküler (Old Poems
New Folk Songs, 1979).
ESSAY-MEMORY: Bu Gemi Nereye (Where
is This Ship Going?, 1985), Savunmalar (Defense,
1989), Yanıtlar (Answers, 1992), Özgürlük İçin Kürt Yazıları (Kurdish
Texts for Liberation, 1996), Ölmedikçe
(As Long As I Don’t Die, 1999), Komünist (Communist, 2001), Tüm Yazıları
Konuşmaları (All Articles and Conversations, 2001).
Everest Publications has republished the complete works of Türkali.