Veysel Çolak

Poet and writer (b. 22 August 1954, Cevizli village / İkizdere / Rize). He also used the pen names Göksu Acar and Mehmet Pınar. He completed his primary and secondary education in Turgutlu. He graduated from Diyarbakır Institute of Education, Department of Turkish (1977) and from Ankara University, Faculty of Language, History and Geography, Department of Turkish Language and Literature (1992). He worked as a teacher in Malatya, Manisa and İzmir after 1977. Later, he continued his studies in İzmir.

His first essay titled “Paralarım” (My Money) and his first poem was published in 1973 by the newspaper Demokrat İzmir, under the edition of Atilla İlhan. His poems and articles were also published in the reviews Yeni Dergi (1973), Yarına Doğru (1973), Milliyet Sanat (1974), Türkiye Yazıları (1977), Edebiyat Cephesi (1979), Somut (1979), Broy (1985), Edebiyat ve Eleştiri (1985), Yeni Biçem (1995), Yazko, Varlık, İnsan, Dize (1995) and in the newspapers Cumhuriyet, Politika, Demokrasi and Ülkede Gündem. He publishes a poetry review called Dize.

He was assessed among the four successful young poets of the year in 1974 by the review Milliyet Sanat. He was described as “a representative of a new generation whose poetic language is so personal and difficult to understand” by Ataol Behramoğlu. Şükran Kurdakul wrote about him that “He proved to be successful in creating his own language by isolating himself from the common language of his generation, in an environment that was created by the conscious interpretation of enthusiasm, love, approaches to life, rebellion and paradox.” He started the New Integrate Poetry Movement together with S. Nezir and M Cengiz. He collected the prize of second rank at the Second International Children’s Books Fair in Germany with his book titled Sen Balık mısın? (Are You A Fish?) in 1979. He also received the prize of second rank of Rıfat Ilgaz Poetry Awards in 1985; the Halil Kocagöz Poetry Award in 1989 with Ölüler Diyaloğu (The Dialogue of the Dead); Sabri Altınel Award in 1996 with Kalbim Hoşçakal (Bye, My Heart), Altın Koza Poetry Award in 1996; the Award of Ali Rıza Ertan in 1996with his file of Mürrekep Zamanlar (Ink Times) and the Orhan Murat Arıburnu Poetry Award in 2000 with Güzel Suç (Beautiful Crime). He also collected the Turgut Uyar Jury’s Special Award, the Behçet Aysan Poetry Award, the Tariş and Çankaya Municipality Poetry Awards and an award of research on poetry at a competition organized by the review E. He is a member of the Writers Syndicate of Turkey, the Turkish Authors Association and the PEN Association of Writers.

WORKS:

POETRY: Terin Yaktığı Bir Yaradan (From a Wound Burned by Sweat, 1978), Sen Balık mısın? (Are You A Fish?, children’s poems, 1979), Günlerin Yağmurunda (Under the Rain Of Days, 1980), Aşk Olsun (Shame on You, 1982), Ötesi Yar (The Beyond is Lover, 1985), Fotoğraf Arkalıkları (Frame of Photographs, 1985), Ölüler Diyalogu (The Dialogue of the Dead, 1988), Umut Aşktadır (The Hope is in Love, 1993), Buz ve Ateş (Ice and Fire, 1994), Aşkın Lâ Sesi (The La Sound of Love, 1995), Giz ve Yara (Secret and Wound, all poems 1, 1996), Güzel Suç (The Beautiful Crime, 2000), İkizim Sevgilimdi (My Twin was My Lover, 2000), Mürekkep Zamanlar (Ink Times, 2004).

STUDY-CRITICISM: Edip Cansever'de Şairin Kanı (Blood of the Poet in Edip Cansever, 1996), Mürekkebin İçtiği Ses (The Sound Drunk by the Ink, 1999), Yabancılaşma ve Öteki Şiir (Alienation and the Other Poetry, 1999), Şiir Nedir ve Nasıl Yazılır (What is Poetry and How Can It Be Written, 2004).

NOVEL: Cinselliğin Kahkahası (The Laugh of Sexuality, 1995).

ANTHOLOGY: Şiir Yıllığı 2002 (The Almanac of Poetry, 2002), Şiir Yıllığı 2003 (The Almanac of Poetry, 2003), Şiir Yıllığı 2004 (The Almanac of Poetry, 2004).

REFERENCE: Mehmet H. Doğan / Veysel Çolak’ın İlk Kitabı: Terin Yaktığı Bir Yaradan (Milliyet Sanat dergisi, sayı: 289, 18.9.1978), Yurt Ansiklopedisi (c. VIII, 1982-1983), Cavit Yıldırım / İmgelerin Parçalanması Kuramı Işığında Veysel Çolak’ın Şiirleri (Yazıt dergisi, 15.7.1990), 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) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013), Zeynep Uzunbay / Kendisinin Tragedyası - Ahmet Telli / Hüzünlü Mohikan - Abdülkadir Budak / Hayat Kadar Dağınık ve Örgütlü - Yusuf Alper / Aşkın Lâ Sesi (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 14.10.1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1999), Ahmet Telli / Hüzünlü Mohikon (Cumhuriyet Kitap, sayı: 504, 14.10.1999), Zeynep Uzunbay / Kendinin Tragedyası (Cumhuriyet Kitap, Sayı 504, 14.10.1999), Ali Serdar / Veysel Çolak’ın Şiir Politikası (Edebiyat ve Eleştiri, sayı: 50, Temmuz-Ağustos 2000), Ataol Behramoğlu / 20.Yüzyıl Büyük Türk Şiiri Antolojisi (2001), E. Bülent Yardımcı / “Aidiyet”i ve “Aynılaşma”yı Reddediş Diyalektik Materyalizmin Alfabesidir (Edebiyat ve Eleştiri, sayı: 53, Ocak-Şubat 2001), Hüseyin Peker (Virgül sayı: 37, Ocak 2001), Altay Ömer Erdoğan / Veysel Çolak’la Söyleşi (Edebiyat ve Eleştiri, Kasım-Aralık 2002), İhsan Deniz / Veysel Çolak’ın Teraneleri (Yeni Şafak, 23.12.2002), E. Bülent Yardımcı / İhsan Deniz (Nam-ı Diğer) Hassan bin Sabit (Edebiyat ve Eleştiri dergisi, Mart-Nisan 2003), Tuncer Uçarol / Dergilerde Şiirler Veysel Çolak (Kum dergisi, sayı: 19, Eylül-Ekim 2003), Cumhuriyet Kitap Eki (16.9.2004), Yasakmeyve (Mayıs-Haziran 2004, s. 121), Necmi Selamet / Veysel Çolak’ın Şiir Yolu - Soner Demirbaş / Yansımanın Gerçekliği: Veysel Çolak Şiiri (Yom Sanat, sayı: 22, Ocak-Şubat 2005).