Baki Ayhan T.

Poet and writer (b. 25 February 1969, Adana). He also used the pen name Baki Ayhan T. in his poems. He attended primary and secondary school in Adana. In 1985, he settled in İstanbul, where he had come for university education. He graduated from Marmara University, Department of Turkish Language and Literature (1989). He completed his master studies at the Chair of New Turkish Literature (1991). His master thesis was: "Cenap Şahabettin'in Suriye Mektupları" (The Syrian Letters of Cenap Şahabettin). He finished his doctorate studies in 1997, with the thesis "Türk Edebiyatında Avrupa Seyahatleri: 1839-1923" (Travels to Europe in Turkish Literature: 1839-1923). In the same year, he began to give lectures on New Turkish Literature at Marmara University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. After teaching Ottoman script for three years (1998-2001), he gave lectures on the Turkish literature in the Republican period (poetry), the movements in the Western literature, written exposition, etc. During the educational term of 2003-2004, he gave graduate lectures on Turkish poetry in the Republican period.

His first poem "Mandolinli Kız" (The Girl with Mandolin) was published in the Milliyet Sanat Dergisi Genç Şairler Antolojisi (Milliyet Arts Review's Anthology of Young Poets) in 1985. The same year, his first poetry book was published in Adana. His series of articles titled "Türk Şiirinde Son 25 Yılın Dizeleri: 1975-2000" (Lines of the Last 25 Years in Turkish Poetry: 1975-2000) were published in 2000 in the review Gösteri. Recently, he has focused his academic researches on contemporary Turkish poetry. His poems, poetry critics, essays and poetical-fictional articles were published in reviews such as Varlık, Yasakmeyve, Virgül, Hürriyet Gösteri, Kitap-lık, Yom Sanat, Heves, Ada, Öteki-siz, Kaşgâr, etc. In the issue 25 (October 2003) of the review Budala: Şiir Ağırlıklı Edebiyat Dergisi, he published a manifest with the title Soylu Yenilikçi Şiir (The Noble Innovationist Poetry). He explained in this manifest that he defended the modern poetry; however, that one should not ignore the very rich accumulation of Turkish and world poetry. He himself stressed the individual's "being alone", instead of loneliness. He was collected the Arkadaş Z. Özger Award for Studies of Poetry with his survey on Turgut Uyar's poem with the title Göğe Bakma Durağı (The Station for Looking at the Sky) in 2001; the Ruşen Hakkı Poetry Award with his book Uzak Zamana Övgü (Appraisal for the Distant Time) in 2004, and the Turkish Medical Association Behçet Aysan Poetry Award for the same book in 2004.

WORKS:

POETRY: Sevdalar Tünemiş Şu Yüreğime (Loves Have Perched upon My Heart, 1985), Hileli Anılar Terazisi (The Intrinsic Scale of Memories, 2001), Uzak Zamana Övgü (Appraisal for the Distant Time, 2003).

STUDY-RESEARCH: Osmanlı Seyyahlarının Gözüyle Avrupa (Europe in the View of Ottoman Travelers, 2000), Bir Şiirin Söylediği (What a Poem Tells, collaborative book, 2002), Budala Kitabı: Budala Dergisinden Seçilenler - 1998-2004 (The Book of Budala: Selected Works from the Review Budala 1998-2004, 2004). 

REFERENCE: İhsan Işık /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), Yücel Kayıran / “Osmanlı Seyyahlarının Gözüyle Avrupa” Adlı Araştırması Üzerine Dr. Bâki Asiltürk’le Söyleşi: ‘Oryantalist Bakışa Karşı Bir Araştırma’ - Serap İncegümüş / Gezi Edebiyatımıza Önemli Bir Katkı (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 26.4.2001), Hileli Anılar Terazisi (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 11.1.2002), Betül Tarıman / Hiçliğin Derin Uykusu (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 28.2.2002), Erol Tufan / Hileli Anılar Terazisi / Baki Ayhan T. (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 14.3.2002), Çetin Balanuye / Baki Ayhan T. ile Şiiri Üzerine - “Şiirimizde Modernizmin Başlatıcısı Ahmet Haşim” (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 12.9.2002), Haydar Ergülen / Şair ve Budala (Radikal, 23.4.2003), Mehmet Öztek / Aydın İntiharları Merceğiyle Hileli Anılar Terazisi (Kül, sayı: 36, Mayıs 2003), Mustafa Fırat / Hileli Anılar Terazisi (Cumhuriyet Kitap, sayı: 679, 20.2.2003), Dosya (Şiiri Özlüyorum dergisi, Temmuz-Ağustos 2004), Aydın Afacan / Uzak Zamana Övgü (Kül Eleştiri, sayı: 55, Aralık 2004), Salih Bolat / Uzak Zamana Övgü’ye Yakından Bakmak (Yasakmeyve, sayı: 8, Mayıs-Haziran 2004), Fuat Çiftçi-Cuma Duymaz / Bâki Ayhan T. ile Şiiri Üzerine Söyleşi (Yom Sanat, sayı: 16, Ocak 2004), Özcan Erdoğan / Uzak Zamana Övgü Üzerine Kapsamlı Söyleşi (Cumhuriyet Kitap, sayı: 748, 17.6.2004), Zeynep Kargılı / Söyleşi (Varlık Kitap, Mart 2004), Abdülkadir Budak / Şair İşine Bakar (Varlık, sayı: 1163, Ağustos 2004).