Writer. He
was born in Diyarbakır in 1954. After attending Cumhuriyet Elementary School, he
started Ziya Gökalp High School, where he completed his secondary education.
After he graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University
in 1978, his three-year-long administrative service ended with Turkish coup
d’état in 1980, and he started working in the non-governmental organizations. He endeavored for the advancement and proliferation of the
non-government organizations both in Diyarbakır and in other southeastern
cities. He served as the chair advisor of the Municipality of Diyarbakır.
Şeyhmus
Diken has preferred to endeavor for civil society and he is a civil-society
activist, and he continues his contributions by serving in different positions
such as voluntary director, member, and member of advisory board in various
non-governmental organizations.
In addition
to Civil Society, he also has an interest in City Culture and Identity as well
as Local and Oral History. He is married with two sons named Dara and Dengin.
Şeyhmus Diken’s articles and review
essays on economy and the city have been published in the daily newspapers such
as Radikal, Yeni Yüzyıl, Yeni Binyıl,
Agos, Birgün as well as Güneydoğu
Ekspres, published in the region locally, and in Bianet since the 1990s. Being a leader in the cultural and art activities organized by
Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, he contributed to the proliferation of
cultural and art life in the region.
He is the
representative of Diyarbakır for the Turkish Center of International PEN
Writers’ Organization, and a member of the Writers’ Union of Turkey (TYS) and
Kurdish Writers Society. Since 2004, he has been
publishing his articles in the daily newspaper of Bir Gün in the column of Günün
Doğusu” (East of the Day) weekly, and on the website of www.bianet.org
regularly.
His 13 poems from his poetry book titled Taşlar Şahit were composed by Yervant Bostancı, who was an oud
player from Diyarbakır living in Los Angeles in ABD, and were recorded on a
music CD with the same name.
In 2004, his drama Diyarbekir
Hikâyeleri was put on the stage 16 times by İmgesel Düşler Theatre Company
in 12 different places from Ağrı to Kızıltepe. In the same year. Diyarbekir Hikâyeleri was also performed
in the Orhan Asena Theatre Festival of Diyarbakır State Theatre and in the
Culture and Art Festival of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality.
HIS WORKS:
Gümrük
Birliği Sürecinde Türkiye ve Güneydoğu’nun Sorunları
(1995), Kürdili Hicazkâr Metinler
(1997), Güneydoğu’da Sivil Hayat
(2001), Sırrını Surlarına Fısıldayan
Şehir: Diyarbakır
(2002), Diyarbekir Diyarım Yitirmişem
Yanarım (2003), Tango ve Diyarbakır (2004), İsyan Sürgünleri (interviews, 2005), Türkiye'de Sivil Hayat ve Demokrasi (2006), Amidalılar, Sürgündeki Diyarbekirliler (2007), Taşlar Şahit (2008), Zevalsiz Ömrün Sürgünü Mehmed Uzun
(2009), Diyarbekir El Sallıyor (Diyarbekir Is Waving Its Hands) (Turkish-Kurdish-English
2009), Bir Kürdün AKP Okumaları
(2009), Gittiler İşte (2011), Bir İnsan Hakları Delisi: Rıdvan Kızgın (2012)
Among his
works, the book titled Sırrını Surlarına
Fısıldayan Şehir: Diyarbakır, was translated into the Kurmancî dialect of
Kurdish (2006); İsyan Sürgünleri, into the Soranî dialect of Kurdish
(2007); Sırrını Surlarına Fısıldayan
Şehir, into French (2010,
Paris), and Gittiler
İşte, into Bulgarian (2012, Sofia).
REFERENCE:
Şevket Beysanoğlu / Diyarbakırlı Fikir ve Sanat Adamları (c. 3, 1997), Mıgırdiç
Margosyan (Agos, 1.5.1998), Şeyhmus Diken / Sırrını Surlarına Fısıldayan Şehir:
Diyarbakır (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 28.3.2002), Rıfat N. Bali / “Unutkanlıklar” ile
Dolu Bir Kitap (Virgül, sayı: 51, Mayıs 2002), Şiirsel Hayatların Kitabı (Diyarbakır
Gün gazetesi, 24.12.2003), Şeyhmus Diken / İsyan Sürgünleri (2005), İhsan Işık
/ Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve
Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, 2007) - Diyarbakır Ansiklopedisi
(2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People
(2013) - Geçmişten Günümüze Diyarbakırlı İlim Adamları Yazarlar ve Sanatçılar
(2014).