Poet (b. 9 August 1928, İstanbul – d.
28 May 1986, İstanbul). After attending the Haseki 56. Primary School, he completed his
secondary school education in Gelenbevi Secondary School and Kumkapı Secondary
School. He graduated from Istanbul High School for Boys (1946). Then, he began to work at his
father’s workplace in the Old Bazaar. After completing his military service in
Ankara, he opened an antique shop in the Old Bazaar (1950). He gave up trade in
1975 after working for long years in this business, and focused on poetry.
Following a gastric bleeding caused by cirrhosis, he was taken to İstanbul from
Bodrum and died there.
His interest in literature started in
his childhood. He published his first poem in the review İstanbul (1
March 1944). He reflected the depressions, idleness, happiness and yearnings of
the people in the mid of chaotic city life in his poems of his early period. He
published these poems in the reviews İstanbul, Yücel, Fikirler, Edebiyat
Dünyası, Nokta and Yenilik. The review Nokta, which was
published by him and his friends for eight issues, coincided with a new phase
of Turkish poetry (15 January 1951 – 15 November 1951). Meanwhile, he published
his poems in the review Yeditepe.
Cansever, who sought a style for his
poetry between 1944 and 1954, was indicated as one of the pioneering poets of
the Second New generation. He was one of the first poets, who wrote different
poems with regard to both form and essence, in the Turkish poetry of the
Republican era. He was one of the pioneers of the movement of the Second New
with his poems, which were closed and difficult to understand. He collected the
Yeditepe Poetry Award in 1958 with his book titled Yerçekimli Karanfil (The
Carnation with Gravity); the Turkish Language Association Poetry Award in 1977
with his book titled Ben Ruhi Bey Nasılım (I am Ruhi Bey, How am I); and
the Sedat Simavi Foundation Literature Award in 1981 with his book titled Yeniden
(Again).
WORKS:
İkindi Üstü (After Afternoon, 1947), Dirlik Düzenlik (Unity and Order, 1954), Yerçekimli Karanfil (The Carnation with Gravity, 1957), Umutsuzlar Parkı (The Park of Desperates, 1958), Petrol (Petroleum, 1959), Nerde Antigone (Where is Antigone, 1961), Tragedyalar (Tragedies, 1964), Çağrılmayan Yakup (Yakup Not Invited, 1969), Kirli Ağustos (Dirty August, 1970), Sonrası Kalır (The Rest Remains, 1974), Ben Ruhi Bey Nasılım (I am Ruhi Bey, How am I, 1976), Sevda ile Sevi (Love and Affection, 1977), Şairin Seyir Defteri (The Logbook of the Poet, 1980), Yeniden (Again, all poems, 1981), Bezik oynayan Kadınlar (The Women Who Play Bezique, 1982), İlkyaz Şikâyetçileri (The Complainers of Spring, 1982), Oteller Kenti (The City of Hotels, 1985), Gün Dönüyor Avucumda (The Sun Revolves in My Palm, poems in prose, 1987), Karanfil Elden Ele (The Carnation from Hand to Hand, selected poems, 2002).
