A. Turan Oflazoğlu

Playwright (b. 1932, Adana). He attended Bünyan Primary School, Gedikpaşa Secondary School, Vefa High School (1951) and graduated from İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Departments of English Philology and Philosophy (1960). When he was at primary school, he made shadow play puppet figures and performed shows. He took lessons in being a playwright and lessons on theatre at Washington University (1963-64). After returning to Turkey, he worked as a dramatist at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s İstanbul Radio Theater Department. He became known through his television adaptations narrating the history of the Ottoman Empire. His plays were performed at State Theatres. His first two plays Keziban (Keziban) and Allah’ın Dediği Olur (What God Says, Happens) were written in the United States and translated into English and performed there. His poetry book was also published. He has done translations from Kafka, Nietche, Rilke, Shakespeare and Lorca.

With his play Deli İbrahim (İbrahim the Mad), he received the Turkish Language Association 1968 Theatre Award; with IV. Murat (Murat IV) he received the 1970 Turkish Radio and Television Achievement Award at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s Art Award Competition; with Kanlı Düğün (Blood Wedding, translated from Lorca) he collected the 1979-1980 Avni Dilligil Award; with Kösem Sultan (Kösem Sultan) he won the 1982 Avni Dilligil Drama Award; with Cem Sultan (Cem Sultan) he received an honorable mention at the Enka Art Awards; with Kanuni Süleyman (Kanuni Sultan Süleyman) he received the 1986 Atatürk Culture Center Award and in 2001 he received the award for being the writer who best uses Turkish. He is a member of the International Theatre Institute, the Association of Television and Theatre Writers.

WORKS:

PLAY: Keziban (Keziban, 1967), Allah’ın Dediği Olur (What God Says, Happens), Güzellik İle Aşk (Beauty and Love), Deli İbrahim (İbrahim the Mad, 1967), IV. Murat (Murat IV, 1970), Sokrates Savunuyor (Defense of Socrates, 1971), Genç Osman (Young Osman, 1979), Elif Ana (Mother Elif, 1979), Kösem Sultan (Kösem Sultan, 1980), Fatih (Fatih, with the name Bizans Düştü  -Byzantine Fell, 1981), III. Selim (Selim III, with the title Kılıç ve Ney – The Sword and the Flute, 1983), Sinan (Sinan, 1988), Gardiyan (The Guardian, 1989), Dört Başı Şahin Çakırpençe (Şahin Çakırpençe the Prosperous, 2 acts, 1991), Atatürk (Atatürk, oratorio texts), Şenlik (Festival, ballet), Cem Sultan (Cem Sultan), Olimpiyat (Olympiad, ballet), Kanuni Süleyman (Kanuni Sultan Süleyman), Yine Bir Gülnihal (Again a Young Rose Plant), Korkut Ata (The Korkut Ancestor), Yavuz Selim (Yavuz Selim, 2^nd edition, 2003).

POETRY: Sevgi Hakanı (Emperor of Love, 1986), Fetih (Conquest, 1992), Dörtlükler (Quatrains).

ESSAY: Shakespeare (Shakespeare, 1977), Molière (Molière, 1978), Mutlak Avcıları (Hunters of Certainity).

SCREENPLAY: Topkapı (Topkapı, 1992), Mütarekeden Büyük Taaruza (From Armistice to the Big Attack, 1994).

His translations have also been published. 

REFERENCE: Metin And / Ulus Gazetesi (Ekim 1967), İnci Enginün / Turan Oflazoğlu ve Türk Halk Kültürü (1991), İlhan Uçar / A. Turan Oflazoğlu’nun Tiyatroları Üzerine Bir Stilistlik Denemesi (1995), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (gen. 6. bas. 1999), TBE Ansiklopedisi (2001, c.2), Mehmet Nuri Yardım / Yazar Olacak Çocuklar (2004), İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Edebiyatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).