Orhan Veli KANIK
Poem is one of the most beautiful parts of our literature. I think, probably it’s because of our
language; Turkish allows you to write a sentence in too many different ways. It’s not something
rare to
find
inversions in books or poems written in Turkish. Personally I think it’s the most beautiful thing
about Turkish language. And it’s because our people and their lives, culture, and experiences…
Now, I want to introduce you somebody very special
for me, and of course Turkish Literature. His name is
Orhan Veli Kanık and he’s still one of the major
poets in Turkish Literature. He was born in 1914,
İstanbul. He got his education at the Faculty of
Literature of Istanbul University. He knew French
very well, so he worked for Ministry of Education in
the translation Office for two years. After that, he
translated the works of several major French poets
and playwrights. In the first years, he used Mehmet Ali Sel as his pen name and published his
works in a literary review “Varlık” (Existence) which is still exist as a literature magazine :)
(In the photo: from left to right; Orhan Veli, Şinasi Baray, Oktay Rifat, and Melih Cevdet Anday)
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