ATAY, Oğuz

Novelist and storywriter (b. 12 October 1934, İnebolu / Kastamonu - d. 13 December 1977, İstanbul). His father was Cemil Atay, who was once a parliamentary deputy of the Republican People’s Party. He settled in Ankara with his family in 1939. He attended Ankara Maarif College (1952) and graduated from İstanbul Technical University, Faculty of Civil Engineering (1957). After military service, he began to work as a lecturer at the İstanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Civil Engineering. He gave lectures on topography and motorway construction. In 1975, he became an associate professor. He went to London for treatment to a tumor on his brain; however, he died in İstanbul.

He gained fame with the Achievement Award from the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s Art Awards in 1970, before his novel Tutunamayanlar (The Disconnected) was published, in which he criticized social changes and intellectual attitude after 1960. After the novel was published, it became a matter of important debate, due to the observations of society, the lifestyle of intellectuals and criticisms of social institutions in the period between the 1930’s and 1960’s. In his other novel Tehlikeli Oyunlar (Dangerous Games), inspired by Tutunamayanlar (The Disconnected), he went on to deal with the dilemmas of the intellectuals isolated from their surroundings. In Bir Bilim Adamının Romanı (The Novel of a Scientist, 1975), he depicted the life story of Prof. Dr. Mustafa İnan, the young scientist who died at a very young age. His play Oyunlarla Yaşayanlar (Living with Games) was posthumously staged at the State Theatres and private amateur theatres between 1979 and 1980. He did not have the chance to complete his project titled Türkiye'nin Ruhu (The Spirit of Türkiye). His articles and interviews were published in various reviews. His literary character and works constituted an eminent source for debates on intellectuals after he died.

WORKS:

NOVEL: Tutunamayanlar (The Disconnected, 2 volumes, 1971-72), Tehlikeli Oyunlar (Dangerous Games, 1973), Bir Bilim Adamının Romanı (The Novel of a Scientist, 1975), Eylem-bilim (Action-Science, 1998).

SHORT STORY: Korkuyu Beklerken (Waiting for Fear, 1975).

PLAY: Oyunlarla Yaşayanlar (Living with Games, staged, 1979 - 80, published by state publications, 1985).

JOURNAL: Günlük (Journal, 1988).

He also wrote a vocational book titled Topografya (Topography).