Ataol Behramoğlu [* April 13, 1942 Çatalca near Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

].Is a prominent Turkish poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, translator

Translation

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

.

Life

Ataol Behramoğlu graduated from the University of Ankara, Department of Russian Language and Literature in 1966. In 1970 he published his second book of verse “One Day Definitely”. Reprinted many times until today, this collection of poems was well received as a synthesis of the poetic tradition of Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) with elements of symbolism and surrealism. He was asked to read his poems before packed audiences of students. In the autumn of 1970 he left Turkey to travel abroad to broaden his studies of language and literature. He lived in London and Paris until the autumn of 1972. In Paris he met with Pablo Neruda and Louis Aragon. Fragments of “One Day Definitely” were published in Les Lettres Françaises edited by Aragon. He participated in the founding of the Theatre de Liberté based in Paris and wrote texts for the “Légendes à Venir”, the first spectacle of the group. During this period his translations were published in Turkey; Pushkin’s Collected Novels and Short Stories (2 Vol.); The short stories of Maxim Gorky plays of Chekov. Between November 1972 and June 1974 he worked as a research assistant at Moscow State University Faculty of Russian Philology, Chair of Russian and Soviet Literature. His third book of poetry called “Poems of the Road, Longing, Courage and Struggle” was published in Turkey in 1974. With the return of democracy in Turkey he went back to his country and worked as a dramaturge at the Istanbul Municipal Theatre. At the time of the 70’s other collections of poems came out: “Neither Rain…Nor Poems” (1976), “During the Siege” (1978), “The Epic of Moustapha Suphi” (1979), “Quatrains” (1980). During a trip to Greece in 1977 he met Yannis Ritsos. Following the coup d'état in 12 September 1980, he was force to resign from his post at the Istanbul Municipal Theatre. A new edition of his “Neither Rain… Nor Poems” published in 1981 was confiscated. Behramoğlu was detained and was kept under custody for some time. In 1981 he collected a series of humoristic and critical poems under the title “Wanted: A Good Citizen” and set these to music a cabaret act. This work of political satire was staged several times and regarded as one of the first examples of Turkish political cabaret. A selection of Behramoğlu’s poetry was translated into Greek and published by Sinhroni Epohi along with a laudatory attention of Ritsos (1981). Well received in Greece the book had three reprints in two years. He published in Istanbul his own translations of poems selected from the work of Aragon, Brecht, A. Jozsef, Lorca, José Marti, Mayakovski, Neruda, Petofi, Pushkin, Ritsos and others under the title “Ballads of Brotherhood”. Was arrested in March 1982 along with the other executive committee members of the Turkish Peace Association. Was kept under atrocious conditions in Maltepe Military Prison until November 1982, when they have conditionally been released. He was awarded the Lotus Prize by the Afro-Asian Writers Union in 1982. On November 1983, at the session of the Turkish peace Association Trial that he did not attend, he was sentenced to 8 years hard labor followed by 32 months internal exile. He had to leave his country. In 1984 he began in Paris to participate in the work of Sorbonne’s National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations, at the Center for Comparative Poetry. Represented Turkey in the International Poetry Festival organized in Rotterdam. In 1985 was awarded an M.A (Diplômes D’études Approfondies/ D.E.A) from the Center Comparative Poetry for his study on the poetries of N. Hikmet and Mayakovski. The same year in Germany his two new books of poetry were published in Turkish: “Turkey, My Sad Country, My Beautiful Land” and “Letters to My Daughter”. In 1986, the French language Turkish Literary and Cultural Magazine Anka began publishing under his direction. 1986: the publication of his critical essays and polemics about the problems of poetry under the title of “A Living Poetry”. 1987/88: His “Epic of Mustapha Suphi” was put on stage by Turkish Theatre Group in Exile and represented in several cities in Europe. In Avignon Theatre Festival it was acclaimed as the first play in Turkish (1989). While Behramoğlu was participating in several meetings in many countries of world (from Australia to Finland) to read his poems and lectures to the Turkish and other audiences, in Istanbul were published “The Anthology of Turkish Poetry Last Century” and “The Anthology of Russian Poetry”, both having been prepared by the poet since the beginning of 80’s. In 1988 a selection of his poems was translated and published in Hungary by the “Europa” Publishing House. Acquitted of all condemnations he returned to Turkey in 1989. He published his collected poems in three volumes (1991-1992), continuously reedited. “Be Happy Nazım”, a musical on the last period of life of Nazım Hikmet (Translated commented and prepared for the scene by A. Behramoğlu at the base of memories n. Hikmet’s widow Vera Tulyakovs and the poems of N. Hikmet) was performed several times in Turkey and abroad. (1992) “Lozan”, a documentary musical, commenting the historical events in Lozan afterwards the Independence War of Turkey was performed by the Turkish state Theatre in Antalya and in Istanbul (1993). He worked as the president of Turkish Writers Syndicate between 1995- 1999, and still in the literary and political critic at the cadre of daily “Cumhuriyet” since 1995. His poems are widely translated and published in several foreign languages. In 2003 he was awarded “The Great Prize of Poetry 2003” by Turkish International P.E.N.

External links

• http://www.ataolbehramoglu.com.tr
• Poems of Ataol Behramoğlu