Playwright (b. 1925, Çorum). He left
high school and worked as a teacher in various villages, a civil servant, a
secretary in a law firm and a pattern designer. He had been interested in
theatre since his childhood and he continued his studies in this area as a
playwright from the age of twenty five.
He wrote his first plays for the Yurt
Theatre, which he founded in 1950. Most of his plays on rural life, some of
which remain unpublished, were staged at the Ankara State Theatre. Initially
famous with his play Pervaneler
(Moths, 1959), Atay gained his fame with his play titled Pusuda (1961, Lying in Ambush). He collected the Enka Arts Award in
1984 with his play Mangoma Maskeleri
(Masks of Mangoma). His health has deteriorated since 1990 and is under
constant treatment. He collected the Award by the Ministry of Culture in 1993
with his play Göğsü Lenin Düğmeli Kadın
(Woman with a Lenin Button on Her Chest) and was honored by the Turkish Authors
Association with an Honorary Certificate and Gold Medal in 1994.
WORKS:
Pervaneler (Moths, 1959), Pusuda (Lying in Ambush, 1961), Sahildeki
Kanepe (The Couch on the Beach, 1961), Karaların
Memetleri (Mehmet of the Blackness, published together with Hamdi ve Hamdi (Hamdi and Hamdi), 1963;
published separately, 1965), Hamdi ve
Hamdi (Hamdi and Hamdi, 1963), Ana
Hanım Kız Hanım (Mother Lady, Daughter Lady, published together with Ormanda-In the Forest, 1964), Ormanda
(In the Forest, 1964), Sultan Gelin
(Sultan Bride, 1965; filmed in 1973), Kırlangıçlar
(Swallows, 1966), Palabıyık
(Thick-Mustached, 1967), Gültepe Oyunları
(Games in Gültepe, 1968), Karaların
Memetleri - Ana Hanım Kız Hanım (Mehmet of the Blackness - Mother Lady,
Daughter Lady, published in one volume, 1971), Kuma (Second Wife, script, 1974), Amele Hıdır (Hıdır the Laborer, 1975).