AKENGİN, Yahya

Poet and writer (b. 1946, Bayburt). He attended the Erzurum Teacher Training School and graduated from the Erzurum Institute of Education (1967). The he completed his graduate studies on literature education at university. He started to work as a teacher of literature at secondary schools, and then he began to give lectures at Gazi Institute of Education and at Middle East Technical University. He was appointed as a first counselor to the Ministry of Culture in 1979 and as the Director of Theater and Entertainment Broadcasting at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s Ankara Radio. He worked as an expert at the Television Department and as the Broadcasting Assessment Director at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation. He was one of the founders of Writers Union of Türkiye and the Professional Association of Scientific and Literary Work Owners of Türkiye and was the chairman of the latter for a while. He was the chairman of the Turkic World Writers and Artists Foundation that he established together with his friends, for a long period of time.

He was recognized with his poems published in the review Hisar. He also wrote book reviews in this review. His poems and articles also appeared in reviews like Türk Edebiyatı, Doğuş Edebiyat, Millî Kültür, Boğaziçi and Türk Dili. He collected the Foundation of Turkish National Culture Award in 1977 with his book titled Çağ Sürgünü (The Exile of the Century), and the Poetry of Hagira Award of the same foundation with his poem titled Hicret Duyguları (The Feelings of Hagira). He received many awards in the poetry and essay competitions organized by the newspaper Tercüman. In 1988, his novel with the title Oğuz Dede (Grandfather Oğuz) ranked third at the Children’s Novels Contest held by İzmir Municipality and the same novel was given the Atatürk Language and History Higher Association Art Award in 1992. His novel titled Sarkaç (Pendulum) was among the novels that were awarded at the 700th Years Awards of Tuzla Municipality. He has focused on writing plays and novels in recent years. His play titled Eski Çarıklar (The Old Shoes) was staged at the State Theater and Aile Bağları (The Bonds of Family) was staged by various theater groups. He attended to many international meetings to stand for Türkiye.

WORKS:

POETRY: İstesen (If You Wish, 1969), Akşamla Gelen (Coming with the Evening, 1975), Çağ Sürgünü (The Exile of the Century, 1977), Saatler ve Çehreler (The Hours and Faces, 1982), Ötelerden (From Far Away, 1986), Kimselere Anlatamadım (I Couldn’t Tell it to Anybody, 1988), Sözümüz Var (We Have Something to Say, 1996), Aşkta Bereket Var (There is Fruitfulness in Love, translated into Macedonian and published in Macedonia, 1998), Eylül Kuşatması (September Siege, 2001).

NOVEL: Özlem Yokuşları (The Ramps of Yearning, 1981), Dönüş Acıları (The Grieves of Turning Back, 1983), Yaralı Dağlar (Wounded Mountains, 1987), Oğuz Dede (Oğuz Dede, 1991), Sarkaç (Pendulum, 2000).

PLAY: Enver Paşa ve Büyük Ümitler (Enver Paşa and Great Expectations, 1985), Eski Çarıklar (The Old Shoes, 1987), Aile Bağları (The Family Ties, 1987).

MEMOIR: Siyasetname ya da Bir Seçim Hikâyesi (The Book of Politics or Story of an Election, 1996).

RADIO PLAY: Ceylan Vurmak (Hunting a Gazelle), Torosların Öbür Yüzü (The Other Side of the Taurus), Plevne Günleri (The Days in Plevne), Nene Hatun (Nene Hatun), Şirket Koltuğu (The Chair of the Company).

He also wrote some text books.