İlhan Berk
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İlhan Berk (18 November 1918, Manisa) is a contemporary Turkish poet. İlhan Berk was a dominant figure in the Postmodern Generation (postmodern artists are given the name "ikinci yeni" in Turkish which means "The second new generation".) He has been very influential among Turkish literary circles.
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[edit] Life
İlhan Berk was born in Manisa in 1918. He graduated from the French Language Department of Gazi University in Ankara. Between 1945-1955, Berk served as a teacher. He later began to work for the publishing office of Ziraat Bank as a translator (1956-1969). İlhan Berk resides in Bodrum, Muğla.
[edit] Poetry
Berk's poetry evolved from the approach of an epical socialist to the dreamy vision of a lyrical and erotic individual. He made the "object" visible in its glory and aimed to break down the meaning. Berk's poetry takes its roots from the mythology, and a synthesis of Western and Eastern poetry traditions, yet he accomplishes to create a unique and postmodern approach.
History, geography, visual arts, cities such as Istanbul, Paris and Ankara, feed Berk's poetry and, his themes are supported by a sizable vocabulary that includes colloquial words as well as very specific ones, such as musical terms and local names of plants.
Only a small selection of Berk's poems has so far appeared in English, most notably A Leaf About To Fall: Selected Poems (2006) translated by George Messo.
[edit] Works
- Güneşi Yiyenlerin Selamı (1935) (later it was given the name Güneşi Yakanların Selamı)
- Istanbul (1947)
- Günaydın Yeryüzü (Good Morning Earth, 1952)
- Türkiye Şarkısı (Song of Turkey, 1953)
- Köroğlu (1955)
- Galile Denizi (1958)
- Çivi Yazısı (Cuneiform Writing, 1960)
- Otağ (1961)
- Mısırkalyoniğne (1962)
- Âşıkane (1968)
- Taşbaskısı (1975)
- Şenlikname (1976)
- Atlas (1976)
- Kül (Ashes, 1978)
- İstanbul Kitabı (The Book of Istanbul, 1980)
- Kitaplar Kitabı (The Book of Books, 1981)
- Deniz Eskisi (1982)
- Delta ve Çocuk (Delta and Child, 1984)
- Galata (1985)
- Güzel Irmak (Beautiful River, 1988)
- Pera (1990)
- Dün Dağlarda Dolaştım Evde Yoktum (1993)
- Avluya Düşen Gölge (1996)
- Şeyler Kitabı Ev (The Book of Things: House, 1997)
- Çok Yaşasın Sayılar (Long Live Numbers, 1998)
[edit] Awards
- 1979 Turkish Language Association Award
- 1980 Behçet Necatigil Poetry Award
- 1983 Yeditepe Poetry Prize
- 1988 Sedat Simavi Literature Prize
