Poet and writer (b. 1908, Sinop – d.
21 July 1980, Ankara). He completed his primary education in Sinop and his
secondary education in Ankara High School for Boys (1930). As he was working in
the newspaper Hakimiyet-i Milliye, he studied at Ankara University,
Faculty of Law for two years. He left his education and became a librarian at
İstanbul Academy of Fine Arts. He received education at the Faculty of
Literature; however he returned to Ankara and began to work as the director of
culture and arts at the People’s Houses at the Headquarters of Republican
People’s Party (1938-42). After military service, he was appointed as the
director of publications at the Children Protection Society (1946). He was
nominated at the general elections from the Democrat Party, however he was not
elected. Later on, he worked as a member of the literary board of the State
Theaters (1951), as the chairman of Children Protection Society (1957), as a
member of the executive board of the Anatolia Agency and finally as a member of
the executives board of İş Bank.
His first poem titled Bir Kadına
(To a Woman) was published in the review Millî Mecmua on 15 September
1926, with the pen name Muhip Atalay, as he was still a student at high school.
Later, his poems were published in the reviews Servet-i Fünûn, Görüş, Ülkü,
Sanat-Edebiyat and Varlık. He became one of the greatest poets of
the Republican period with his poems, where he was influenced by the French
symbolism and skillfully benefited from the Turkish tradition of poetry. His
play titled Gölgeler (Shadows) received the award of second rank
at a play competition organized by Republican People’s Party in 1947.
WORKS:
PLAY: Gölgeler (Shadows, staged
by the İstanbul Municipal Theater, 1946; published in 1947), O Böyle
İstemezdi (He Would Not Want it to Be Like This, staged by the İstanbul
Municipal Theater, 1949), Çıkmaz (The Impasse, staged in 1977).
POETRY: Şiirler (Poems, all
poems, 1974), Kırık Saz (The Broken Bağlama*, poems of Tevfik Fikret in
modern Turkish, 1975).
ESSAY: Yazılar (Articles, all
articles, 242 essays published between 1937 and 1975, edited by Münire Dıranas,
1994; new edition, 2001).