Sevinç Çokum

Short story writer and novelist (b. 25 August 1943  (September 1943 in Identity Card), Beşiktaş / İstanbul). She attended Büyük Esma Sultan High School and Beşiktaş Elementary and High Schools. She graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Department of Turcology (1970). She took private violin lessons in classic Western Music for seven years and played second violin in the İstanbul Amateur Symphony Orchestra, which was conducted by A. Kavafyan and which included representatives from various countries and she participated in concerts. She was the editor-in-chief of the review Türk Edebiyatı as well as her work as a teacher of literature at the Private Anatolian High School between 1970 and 73. She worked at the Ministry of Culture, Commission of Public and Children’s Publications. She was on the administration of Cönk Publications, which she established with her husband Rıfat İzzet Çokum. She wrote two serialized novels in addition to essays, studies and travel notes for the newspaper Türkiye between the years 1981 and 1985. She has written twice a week for the newspaper Halka ve Olaylara Tercüman since April 2003. Since 2004, she has been reading and interpreting stories on her weekly radio program “Turkish History from the Tanzimat* to Today” for Burç FM. She is a founder member of the Turkish Literature Foundation and a member of the Turkish Journalists Association.

Her first short story, Bir Eski Sokak Sesi, (Sound of an Old Street), was published in the review Hisar (February 1972). A few of her poems were published in the same year in the newspaper Başkent, which was managed by Ahmet Nadir Caner. Afterwards she wrote for reviews and newspapers such as Hisar, Töre, Türk Edebiyatı, Kaynaklar, Yeni Düşünce and Türkiye. Her stories Çarmıha Gerilen İsa (Jesus Crucified) and Bir Geminin Getirdikleri (Those a Ship Brought) were translated into German in 1976; her short story Denizin Dalgaları Saçların (Your Hair is the Waves of the Sea) and her novel Bizim Diyar (Our Land) were translated into Azerbaijan Turkish in 1992; Her short story Güneşin Son Saatleri (Last Hours of the Sun) was translated into Uzbek in 1993 and her short story Rozalya Ana (Mother Rozalya) was translated into Tatar in 1994 and all published in these languages. Some of her stories have been published in the reviews and newspapers of Turkic Countries such as Türk Cumhuriyetlerinin Kazan Odları, Türkistan, Edebiyat ve İnce Sanat, Azerbaycan Gençleri and Azerbaycan Muallimi.

She won the Turkish National Culture Foundation Short Story Award with her book Makina (The Machine) (1976), the Dündar Taşer Novel Award with her first novel Zor (Difficult) (1977), the 1982 Kayseri Artists Association Short Story Award, the Turkish National Culture Foundation Jury Special Award with her novel Hilâl Görününce (When the Crescent was Seen, 1984), the Writers Union of Turkey Novelist of the Year Award (1985), the Writers Union of Turkey Short Story Writer of the Year (1993) with her book Rozalya Ana (Mother Rozalya), the Karaman 723rd.Turkish Language Festival Best Usage of Turkish Award (2000) and the Writers Union of Turkey (2003) for narrative with her book Hevenk-Kayıp İstanbul (Hanging Bunch of Fruit – The Lost İstanbul).

She has also written for the radio and cinema. Her screenplays Yeniden Doğmak (Born Again) and Beyaz Sessiz Bir Zambak (A Silent White Lily) in which she narrated the oppression against the Bulgarian Turks were adapted for television. She won the Ankara Journalists Association Screenplay Award with her screenplay Doğmak (To Be Born) in 1988. She was given the Honorary Press Award by the Ankara Journalists Association. Having underlined her love for mankind with her first book, Sevinç Çokum in her following work she made connections between the inner person and society and the precious devotion unique to being a nation with an historical perspective. However, after her storybook Gece Kuşu Uzun Öter (The Night Bird Sings Long) and especially in the writing process of her book Gece Rüzgarları (Night Breezes) she dealt with her inner self, supporting sincerity and rejecting ideological dependency. She adopted the idea that getting close to people through their weaknesses, virtue and spiritual depth was correct.

WORKS:

SHORT STORY: Eğik Ağaçlar (Bent Trees, 1972), Bölüşmek (Sharing, 1974), Makina (The Machine, 1976), Derin Yara (Deep Wound, 1984), Onlardan Kalan (Remains of Them, 1987), Rozalya Ana (Mother Rozalya, 1993), Beyaz Bir Kıyı (A White Shore, 1998), Gece Kuşu Uzun Öter (The Night Bird Sings Long, 2001). The stories in her first five books were re-edited and published by Ötüken Publications under the names of Bir Eski Sokak Sesi (An Old Street Voice), Evlerinin Önü (The Front of Their House), Onlardan Kalan (Remains of Them).

NOVEL: Zor (Hard, 1977), Bizim Diyar (Our Land, 1978), Hilâl Görününce (When the Crescent Was Seen, 1984), Ağustos Başağı (The Spike of August, 1989), Çırpıntılar (Flusters, 1991), Karanlığa Direnen Yıldız (The Star That Insists on Darkness, 1996), Deli Zamanlar (Crazy Times, 2000), Gülyüzlüm (My Sweet, 2003), Gece Rüzgarları (Night Breezes, 2004).

SCREENPLAY: Beyaz Sessiz Bir Zambak (A Silent White Lily, 1987), Yeniden Doğmak (Born Again, 1987), Çırpıntılar (Flusters, 1991).

ANECDOTE: (featured in newspapers): Güzele Bakan Karınca (An Ant Looking at Beauty, 1997), Vaktini Bekleyen Tohum (A Seed Biding Its Time, 2000).

NARRATIVE: Hevenk - Kayıp İstanbul (A Bunch of Hanging Fruit – The Lost İstanbul, 2003).

New editions of her previous work and her new work are being published by Ötüken Publications.

REFERENCE: İnci Enginün / Bölüşmek-Küçük Mutluluklar (Hisar, Temmuz 1974), 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) - Ünlü kadınlar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 6, 2013)- Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013), Ahmet Kabaklı / Sevinç Çokum’un Güneşin Son Saatleri Hikâyesinin Tahlili (Türk Edebiyatı, Nisan 1992) – Türk Edebiyatı (c. 5, 11. bas. 2002, s. 557), Beşir Ayvazoğlu / Bir Hikâyecinin Doğuşu Üzerine Bir Deneme: Sevinç Çokum (Defterimde Kırk Sûret, 3.bas., 1999, s. 152-156), Sezai Coşkun /Gece Rüzgarları-Bir Aydının İşgalden Kurtulma Çabasının Romanı (Türk Edebiyatı, Haziran 2004), Mehmet Nuri Yardım / Sevinç Çokum (Milat Gazetesi, 29 Ağustos 2018).