Yılmaz Odabaşı

     Poet and writer (b. 15 August, 1961, Başarı / Çermik / Diyarbakır). He graduated from Diyarbakır High School. He has worked in various jobs such as signboard painter and agency reporter. He could not continue his higher education as being arrested for political reasons. He served as the representative of many newspapers, reviews and agencies in Diyarbakır between 1986 and 1993. He moved to Ankara in 1994 and gave up journalism. He has been tried many times for his articles and imprisoned in various jails. Since 1991 he has worked solely as a writer in Yalova.

His poems have been published in the reviews Oluşum, Yeni Olgu, Edebiyat 81, Sanat Rehberi, Yarın, Broy, Yeni Düşün, Çağdaş Türk Dili, Yazılı Günler, Düşler, Evrensel Kültür, Edebiyat ve Eleştiri, Varlık, Gösteri and Ütopia since 1980. He won the Temmuz Review Poetry Award in 1987, second rank in the 1989 Tayat Poetry Competition, the 1990 Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Award, second rank in the 1992 Union of Petrolium Worker’s 4th Traditional Poetry Competition, the 1998 Sabri Altınel Poetry Competition and the 1999 Orhon Murat Arıburnu 10th Anniversary Poetry Special Award. In addition to winning international awards, his poems have been translated into various languages and more than 20 of his poems have been set to music.    

WORKS:

POETRY: Siste Kalabalıklar (Crowds in the Fog, 1985), Yurtsuz şiirler (Rootless Poems, 1987), Talan İklimi (The Season of Plundering, 1988), Aynı Göğün Ezgisi (The Melody of the Same Sky, 1988), Feride (Feride, 1990), Her Ömür Kendi Gençliğinden Vurulur (Every Life is Damaged by its Youth, 1992), Günlerin Çarmıhında (In the Shrouds of Days, 1994), Cehennem Bileti (The Ticket to Hell, 1995), Nice Küllerden (From So much Ash, poetry cassette, 1996), Aşk Bize Küstü (Love is Offended By Us, 1997), Hayat Gül Kokulu Bir Sağanak Yine (Life is Again a Rose Scented Downpour, selections from his first five books, 1997), Çalınmış Bir Mahşer İçin Ahval (Situation of a Stolen Last Judgment, 1999), Ey Hayat (Hey Life, 2000), Aşk Tek Kişiliktir (Love is for One, selected prose verses, 2000). Konuşsam Sessizlik Gitsem Ayrılık Bütün Şiirleri 1 / 1980-1990 (If I Speak then Silence, If I Go then Separation, all his poems 1 / 1980-1990, 2000), Aşk Bize Küstü Bütün şiirleri 2 / 1990-2000 (Love is Offended by Us, All his Poems 2 1990-2000, 2000),

MEMOIR-NARRATION: Eylül Defterleri: 1 1975-1985 (The Notebooks of September, 1991).

STUDY-RESEARCH: Şeyh Said İsyanı (The Revolt of Şeyh Sait, documentary, 1989), Güney Doğu' da Gazeteci Olmak (To Be Journalist in the Southeast, 1994).

SHORT STORY: Kül Aşklar (Ash Loves, 1991), Çocuklar ve Adresler (Children and Addresses, 1992), Şafak, Kenya'da Çıplaktı (The Dawn  was Naked in Kenya, film stories, 1998), Çocuklara Hikâyeler (Short Stories for Children, 1998), Kül Aşklar: Bütün Hikâyeleri 1 (Ash Loves: All Short Stories 1, 2001), Kuşlar Uzaktı Sonra: Bütün Hikâyeleri 2 (Then Birds were Faraway, All Poems 2, 2001).

INTERVIEW: Hüzün mü? Başım Gözüm Üstüne (Sorrow? I Accept it with Pleasure, 1993).

ESSAY: Sevginin Herkesten Şikâyeti Var (Love Complains About Everybody, 1996), Düş ve Yaşam (Dream and Life, 1996), Hayat Bilgisi Notları (The Notes of the Knowledge of Life, 2001).

JOURNAL: Bütün Kanamalar Umuttan (All Bleeding is From Hope, 1996).

ANTHOLOGY: 1975-2000 Son Çeyrek Yüzyıl Şiir Antolojisi (The Last 15 Years, 2000), Yılmaz Odabaşı'nın Seçtiği Aşk Şiirlerleri (Love Stories, selected by Yılmaz Odabaşı, 2001).