Writer and poet (b. 9 December 1953, Balcı village / Bor / Niğde). He
also used the pen names Eyüp Önder, Halis Emre and Musa Deniz. He attended
primary and secondary schools in Ankara and then entered the Bor Şehit Nuri
Pamir High School and attended lectures at Ankara University, Faculty of
Theology (1971-74) and Erzurum University, Faculty of Theology (1975-78). He
graduated from Gazi Insitute of Education, Department of Turkish and from Gazi
University, Faculty of Educational Sciences (1988). He made his graduate
studies at Gazi University, Institute of Social Sciences. His thesis was "Makeonya'da Türk Halk Edebiyatı" (Turkish
Folk Literature in Macedonia, 1993). He was the chairman of the Ankara branch
of the Turkish National Students’ Association (1974-76). In 1974, he worked as
a library officer at the General Directorate of the Industry of Cement and Soil
of Turkey. When he was the chief of the educational department at the same
organization, he was appointed as the director of education to the Prime
Ministry Family Research Institution. In the year 1993, leaving his
counsellorship in Family Research Institution, began to work as a lecturer at
Kırıkkale University, Faculty of Literature, Turkish Language and Literature
Department. After his retirement, he continued his studies at Başkent
University, Faculty of Literature, Department of Turkish Language and Literature
in 1999.
He enjoyed his first literary
delight with the lullabies that his mother sang and the stories she told him,
besides the battles of Esteemed Ali and the stories of the decapitated told by
his father. His first poems were published in the newspapers Bor’un Sesi and Niğde Hakimiyet, when he
was at high school. After meeting with Nuri Pakdil in 1972, Ay carried on his
literary studies in the review Edebiyat, which was edited by Pakdil. He
worked in collaboration with his classmate Turan Koç and joined cadre of the
review Edebiyat, along with famous writers and poets, such as Erdem
Bayazıt, M. Akif İnan, Rasim Özdenören, Alaaddin Özdenören, Cahit Zarifoğlu,
Osman Sarı and İsmail Kıllıoğlu. His first poem “Denizi Giymek“ (Putting on Sea) was published
in the review Edebiyat in 1975. Between 1977 and 1984, he was the owner
and responsible of this Review. After the closedown of Edebiyat, his
poems, short stories and essays were published in the reviews Yedi İklim,
Ayane, İkindi Yazıları, Kırağı, Kaşgar, Ünlem, Hece, Kırklar and in the newspapers Yeni
Şafak, Sağduyu and Millî
Gaztete. He
is regarded as one of the leading poets of his generation.
About the poem Gerilla
(Guerrilla)
published
in his first poetry book Hıra (Hıra), Konur Ertop published a critique of it in his book Emperyalizmle
Savaşım (My Battle against
Imperialism). Concerning this critique, Nuri Pakdil said the following
in his book Biat III (Obeisance
III):
HIS BOOKS
POETRY: Hıra
(Hıra, 1978), Dosyalar (Dossiers, 1980), Şiirin Kandilleri
(Candles of Poem, 1983), Gökyüzü Saatleri (Hours of the Sky, 1986),
İmâ Kitabı (Book of Implications, 1989), Bin Yılın Destanı (Legend
of a Millennium, 1992), Flowering Sky (London, 1994), Yirmi Yaş
Şiirleri (Poems of Twenty Years of Age, 1995), Dokuz Kandil (Nine
Candles, 1997), Dağlara Götür Beni (Take Me to the Mountains, 2000),
Ateş ve Caz (Fire and Jazz, 2001).
SHORT STORY:
Saat Yirmi Dörtte Saksofon Dersi (Lesson of Saxophone at Twenty Four
o’clock, 1991).
ESSAY: Gece Yazıları (Articles
of Night, 1991).
ANTHOLOGY: Anne Hikâyeleri
(Stories of Mothers, 1991),
Çocuklara Şiirler (Poems for the Children, 2001), Anne Şiirleri (Poems for Mothers, 2001).
SCENARIO: Bosna Alevler İçinde (Bosnia under Fire, cartoon).
REFERENCE: HAKKINDA: 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), Nuri Pakdil / Biat III (1981), Murat Yalçın / Sombahar (sayı: 5, Mayıs-Haziran 1991), Muzaffer Uyguner / Şiir Kitapları (Varlık Yıllığı 1989), Dosya (Yedi İklim, Ağustos 1993), Mehmet Erdoğan / Subjektif Yazılar içinde Arif Ay’ın Şiirinde Tarihsel İzdüşümler (1997), Birsen Pekçolak – Zeki Büyüktanır / Homeros’tan Günümüze Anadolu Destanları (2002), Nazir Akalın / Arif Ay’ın Bir Polemiği (Şairin Eldivenleri, 2003), Mahmut Kanık / Dört İklimden Esintiler içinde Gelenekten Yararlanma ve Arif Ay’ın Şiiri (2004).
