Writer (b. 1918, Akşehir / Konya
– d. 25 February 1994, İstanbul). He also used the pen names Mehmet
Nâzım, Süleyman Yücel, Tarık Emin and Tarık Nâzım. He graduated from Konya High
School (1936). He continued at İstanbul University, Faculties of Medicine, Law
and Literature, but he didn’t graduate. He began to work as a journalist on the
newspaper Nasrettin Hoca (1947-48)
that he published in Akşehir. After he settled in İstanbul he worked for the
newspapers Milliyet (1955-56), Yeni İstanbul (1960-66), Haftalık Yol (1968), Tercüman (1969-76) where he was a page
supervisor, columnist and editor-in chief. After gave up writing daily
articles, he began to write weekly conversation articles for the newspaper Tercüman. He became famous for his
stories published in the periodical Çınaraltı.
He took the second prize in the competition held by the newspaper Cumhuriyet (1948) with his story Oğlumuz (Our Son). His novel Siyah Kehribar (Black Amber) was not
well liked, so he gave up writing novels for a while (1955). In the same period
he was a leading exponent of depressive stories influenced by existentialism.
He began to write plays with Peşte 56 (Peşte 56), which was about Hungarian people resisting the Soviets during the events in Hungary in 1956. But he gained his real reputation with his 3-volume novel Küçük Ağa (Little Lord), which he started to work on in 1959. This novel, which was about the resistance of people against invasion and the Turkish National Forces during the period of National Struggle, was made into a much acclaimed TV series by Yücel Çakmaklı with the script again written by Buğra. His novel İbiş’in Rüyası (The Dream of İbiş) won the Achievement Award in the 1970 Turkish Radio and Television Corporation Art Awards Competition and was adapted for the stage in 1972 and in 1979 for TV. He won the Turkish National Culture Foundation Award in 1978 with his novel Firavunun İmanı (Pharaoh’s Faith) and in 1985 with his novel Osmancık (Little Osman), about the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, which later became a TV series directed by Yücel Çakmaklı. In addition, Tarık Buğra collected the Turkish National Culture Foundation Award in 1979 with Gençliğim Eyvah (Oh My Youth!), the 1981 Turkish Union of Writers Theatre Award with Akümülatörlü Radyo (Battery Operated Radio) the Turkish National Culture Foundation Award with Yalnızlar (Lonely People), the 1982 Ministry of Culture Award with Yağmur Beklerken (While Waiting for the Rain), the 1983 Turkish National Culture Foundation Award, the 1984 Service to Turkish Culture Foundation Script Award with Osmancık (Little Osman), the 1989 İş Bank Novel Award with Yağmur Beklerken (When Waiting for the Rain) and the 1994 Professional Association of Scientific and Literary Work Owners of Turkey Superior Service Award. He was chosen novelist of the year by the review İnanç in 1984.
WORKS:
SHORT STORY: Oğlumuz (Our Son, 1949), Yarın Diye Bir Şey Yoktur (There is
Nothing Such as Tomorrow, 1952), İki Uyku
Arasında (Between Two Sleeps, 1954), Hikâyeler
(Stories, anthology from the first three books, 1964; new anthology, 1969).
NOVEL: Küçük Ağa Ankara'da (Little Lord in Ankara, 1966, with Küçük Ağa (Little Lord), 1968, 1974), İbişin Rüyası (The Dream of Abraham,
1970), Firavun İmanı (The Pharaoh’s
Faith, 1976), Dönemeçte (On the Turn,
1978), Gençliğim Eyvah (Oh My Youth, 1979), Yağmur Beklerken (While Waiting for the Rain, 1981), Yalnızlar (The Lonely People, 1981), Osmancık
(Little Osman, 1983), Dünyanın En Pis Sokağı (The Dirtiest
Street in the World, 1989).
ARTICLE-ESSAY: Gençlik Türküsü (Song of Youth, 1964), Düşman
Kazanmak Sanatı (The Art of
Gaining Enemies, 1979).
TRAVEL LITERATURE: Gagaringrad (Gagaringrad,
Notes on Moscow, 1962), Bu Çağın Adı
(The Name of This Age, 1990).
PLAY: Ayakta Durmak İstiyorum (I
Want to Stand Up, 1964), Üç Oyun
(Three Plays: Ayakta Durmak İstiyorum - I Want to Stand Up, Akümülatörlü Radyo – Battery Operated
Radio, Yüzlerce Çiçek Birden Açtı - Hundreds of Flowers Bloomed, 1981), Güneş ve Arslan (The Sun and the Lion, 1988), Sıfırdan
Doruğa (From Zero to the Top,
1994).
He also wrote novels published in newspapers and journals such as Aşk Esirleri (Slaves of Love, Milliyet, 1953), Şehir Uyurken (When the City was Asleep, Bursa Hakimiyet, 1954), Yanıyor mu Yeşil Köşkün Lambası (Is Light On in the Green House, Yenigün, 1955), Ölü Nokta (Dead Point, Yeni İstanbul, 1958), Sonradan Yaşamak (To Live Later, Vatan, 1958), Abaza Paşa'nın Rüyası (The Dream of Abaza Paşa, Erzurum Doğu, 1959). These have not been published in book form.
