Poet and writer (b.
1926 Torlak (Tsar Kaloyan) / Razgrad / Bulgaria
– d. 2000, Bursa).
He also used the name Ahmet Şerif Şerifov in his works. He attended primary
school in his village and elementary school and Art School
in Razgrad. Afterwards he graduated from Nüsvap School.
He started to make his living as a tailor but his life changed drastically when
he won an award in a competition held by the newspaper Halk Gençliği that
was printed in Turkey.
The same year (1953) he was called to the capital, Ankara, and was included on the staff of the
newspaper published for children in Turkish, Eylülcü Çocuk. After that,
he worked for various reviews and newspapers. In the 60s, he worked on
newspapers such as Halk Gençliği and Yeni Işık and the review Yeni
Hayat. He only wrote about literary and cultural issues.
Between 1970 and 1989, the years of
compulsory migration, there was nothing for the poet and Turk in Bulgaria,
only unemployment and years of surveillance, prison tragedies, exiles and
semi-exiles. He was imprisoned in 1975 and his valuable family library and
unpublished works were seized. Many of his poems have been published in
reviews. Through the efforts of the journalist and writer İsmail Hakkı Tunalı,
who was Head of the Turkish and Bulgarian Culture Research Foundation, the old
school house in Torlak where the writer was born, has been converted into a
library and has been given the name Ahmet Şefik.
WORKS:
POETRY: Müjde (Good News, Sofia, 1960), Azın Çoğu (Few of the Many,
compilation, 1963), Üçüncü Adım (The
Third Step, 1969), Vakit Çok Geç
(It’s Too Late, ?).
MEMOIR-ESSAY: Yer
Yeşil Gök Mavi Kalsın (May the Earth Stay Green and the Sky Blue, 1994), Türk
Doğduk Türk Öldük (Born a Turk, Died a Turk, 1990).
TRAVEL LITERATURE: Adım
Adım Memleket (Country Step by Step, 1967).
RESEARCH: Deliorman Folkloru (Folklore of Deliorman, 1991).
