Storywriter and playwright (b. 26 June
1931, İstanbul – d. 30 December 1983). Her mother was the daughter of a Jewish
family named Mandil, who migrated from Bulgaria and settled in Kuzguncuk. Later
on, she converted to Islam and took the name Aysel Kudret. Her father was Seyfi
Kaptan. After completing the secondary section of the German High School, she
began to work as a model, as a salesclerk at a bookstore and as a tailor. She
got married two times. She travelled to the United States, Europe and Africa
for various reasons. She lived in Nigeria for one and half years. Her
impressions here strongly influenced her short story titled Afrika Dansı
(The African Dance). Her grave is in Nakkaştepe Graveyard.
She wrote her
first short story when she was twelve years old. At an interview with Asım
Bezirci, she said that the words of a young man in his story were the beginning
of the literature of Sevim Burak: “Look at this smiling faced young man, you
would not find eventually, he especially does not show himself”. Her first
short stories like Hırsız (The Thief), Her Şey Beyazdı
(Everything Was White), Büyük Günah (The Great Sin), Mankenin Hayatı (The
Life of a Model), 5’ten Sonra (After 5 O’clock) were published in the
newspapers Ulus, Yeni İstanbul, Milliyet; and in the reviews Yenilik,
Türk Dili and Dost. She was recognized with her first book Yanık
Saraylar (Burned Palaces). She narrated the semi-traditional and
semi-westernized life of İstanbul in an authentic language in her works. For
the sake of the meaning she sought, she went to extreme points in the language.
Her book titled Mach 1, which she started to write in 1972, but remained
half with the demise of her, was published by the Yapı Kredi Publications
(2003).
WORKS:
SHORT STORY: Yanık Saraylar
(Burned Palaces, 1965), Afrika Dansı (African Dance, 1982), Ford Mach I (Ford Mach I, edited by
Nilüfer Güngörmüş, 2003).
PLAY: Sahibinin Sesi (The Voice
of Its Owner, 1982), Everest My Lord / İşte Baş İşte Gövde, İşte Ayaklar (Everest
My Lord / Here is, the Head Here is the Body, Here is the Foot, novel-3
acts-play, 1984).
OTHER WORKS: Mach 1'e Mektuplar
(Letters to Mach I, letters to her son, 1991), Palyaço Ruşen (Ruşen the
Clown, 1993).
