ÂŞIK İHSANÎ

Minstrel (b. 1930, Diyarbakır). He is originally from a family of the Iranian Azerbaijan. He lived in Ankara for many years. He gained popular fame at first, with his love poems, which he recited during his travels throughout Anatolia. Later, his poems were inundated with political messages; some of his books were found against criminal code and he was arrested several times. He lived in İstanbul for many years and then returned to Diyarbakır.

WORKS:

POETRY: Ağla Dünya (Cry Oh World!, 1964), Yazacağım (I am Going to Write, 1966), Bakalım Hele (Let Us See, 1967), Bak Tarlanın Taşına (Look at the Stones on the Field, 1974), Vur Ağa'nın Başına (Strike on the Head of the Ağa, 1975), Bıçak Kemikte (Knife to the Bone, 2002).

ANTHOLOGY: Ozan Dolu Anadolu (Anatolia Full of Minstrels, anthology of folk poetry, 1973).

TRAVEL LITERATURE: Beyaz Köle (The White Slave, 1985).