AHMET OKTAY

Poet and writer (b. 1933, Ankara). His real surname is Börtecene. He attended Ankara Mimar Kemal Primary School and Dördüncü Secondary School. He left the Ankara Atatürk and Bursa High Schools for Boys (1951) and became a civil servant at the General Directorate of Statistics, however, left his job after working there for two years. He took up journalism in the newspaper Yeni İstanbul in 1961. After working for this newspaper for two years and also in the newspapers Ankara Ekspres (1963) and Vatan (1964) he entered the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation in 1965. Until 1974 he worked as a redactor and news editor in the corporation’s News Service Department. Between the years 1974-76 he worked at the News Department of İstanbul Radio and then joined the Ak Agency. In 1977, he worked for the Dünya newspaper for a while, but then he returned to his duty at İstanbul Radio. From 1978 to 1980, he served as a supervisor and until 1982 as the chief radio editor. After 1982 he worked for Milliyet newspaper as a researcher and writer.

His first poem was published in the Gerçek review (1948). Then his poems, essays and critiques were published in the reviews Beraber (1954), Mavi (1954-55), Pazar Postası (1955-60), Yeditepe (1955), Şairler Yaprağı (1950), Kaynak (1959), Seçilmiş Hikâyeler (1960), Dost (1960-67), Yeni Dergi (1962-68), Birikim (1965-80), Halkın Dostları (1979-80), Papirüs, Yazı, Yazko-Edebiyat, Somut, Argos.

Ahmet Oktay, who is considered one of the writers of the 1950’s generation, won the Yeditepe Poetry Award in 1965 with his book Her Yüz Bir Öykü Yazar (Every Face Tells a Story) and the Behçet Necatigil Poetry Award in 1987 with his book Yol Üstündeki Semender (Salamander on the Road).

WORKS:

POETRY: Gölgeleri Kullanmak (Using the Shadows, 1963), Her Yüz Bir Öykü Yazar (Each Face Tells a Story, 1965), Dr. Kaligari'nin Dönüşü (Return of Dr. Kaligari, 1966), Sürgün (The Exile, 1979), Sürdürülen Bir Şarkının Tarihi (History of a Continued Song, 1981), Kara Bir Zamana Alınlık (A Façade of Dark Times, 1983), Yol Üstündeki Semender (Salamander on the Road, 1987), Ağıtlar ve Övgüler (Elegies and Praises, 1991), Bütün Şiirleri (All Poems, 1995), Gözüm Seyirdi Vakitten (My Eyes Flicking Through Time, 1996) , Söz Acıda Sınandı (The Word was Examined in Pain, 1996), Az Kaldı Kışa (It’s Almost Winter, 1996), Hayalet Övgü (Ghostly Praise, 2003), Poyrazda Kımıldayan Salıncak (The Swing Moved Slightly in the Northeast Wind, 2004),

PLAY: Kurt Dişi (Teeth of the Wolf, 1974).

ESSAY-RESEARCH: Bir Arayış'ın Yazıları (Texts of a Search, 1981), Yazın İletişim İdeoloji (Literature, Communication, Ideology, 1982) Yazılanla Okunan (To Be Written and To Be Read, 1983), Toplumcu Gerçekçiliğin Kaynakları (The Sources of Social Realism, 1986), Kültür ve İdeoloji (Culture and Ideology, 1987), Karanfil ve Pranga (Carnation and Shackle, 1990), Rafaillo'nun Direnişi (Rafaillo’s Resistance, 1990), Toplumsal Değişme ve Basın (Social Change and the Press, 1990), Şair ve Kurtarıcı (Poet and Redeemer, 1992), Kabul ve Red (Acceptance and Rejection, 1992), Sanat ve Siyaset (Art and Politics, 1993) Türkiye'de Popüler Kültür (Popular Culture in Türkiye, 1993), Cumhuriyet Dönemi Edebiyatı / 1923-1950 (Republican Period Literature / 1923-1950, 1993), İnsan, Yazar, Kitap (Man, Writer and Book, 1995), Şiddet, Söz, Yaşam (Violence, Speech and Life, 1995), Medya ve Hedonizm (Media and Hedonism, 1995), İsrafilin Sur'u (Raphael’s Trumpet, 1997), Şairin Kanı (The Blood of the Poet, 2001), Anlatılanların Aynası (The Telling Mirror, 2001), Metropol ve İmgelem (Metropolis and the Imagination, 2002), Entelektüel Tereddüt (Intellectual Dilemma, 2003), Romanımıza Ne Oldu (What Happened to Our Novel, 2003), İmkânsız Poetika (Impossible Poetics, 2004), Hayat Edebiyat Siyaset ( Life, Literature and Politics, 2004).

MEMOIR: Gizli Çekmece (Secret Drawer, 1991), Gizli Çekmece-TRT’den, Bohemlerin ve Edebiyatçıların Dünyasından Hayatı Hakikiye Sahneleri (Secret Drawer, Real Scenes of the World of Bohemians and the Writers from the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s Archive, 2004).

HUMOROUS STORY: Tarantula Post (Tarantula Post, 2002).