ALTINEL, Sabri

Poet (b. 1926, Susurluk / Balıkesir – d. 18 October 1985, İstanbul). His full name was Mustafa Sabri Altınel. He attended the Balıkesir High School (1945) and graduated from İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Department of Turkish Language and Literature (1949). He worked as a teacher of literature at Saint Joseph and Saint Benoit Private French High Schools and after working as a journalist for a time, went to France (1959). Afterwards he worked as a teacher again at Saint Joseph and Saint Benoit Private French High Schools and retired in 1983. He died of lung cancer. His grave is in Feriköy.

His first poem (At Koşusu-Horse Race) was published in the review Alkım (Balıkesir, 1937). Afterwards he wrote for the reviews such as Kaynak, Genç Nesil, Sanat ve Edebiyat, Edebiyat Dünyası, Yağmur ve Toprak, Yeryüzü, Yelken, Yeni Ufuklar, Yücel, Ataç, Soyut, Somut and Yazko Edebiyat. He chose to publish his poems that were not featured in reviews in a book. He was one of the socialist poets of 1940’s.

According to what he wrote in his book İnsanın Değeri (The Value of Human), the understanding of poetry is “an understanding of living”. Poems in this book show the influence of the “Strange Movement”, as they are not quite lyrical. However, he was more realistic than the “Strange” poets. In his later poems he portrayed more melancholic dramas that have less definite stories.

WORKS (Poetry):

İnsanın Değeri (The Value of Human, 1955), Kıraçlar (Barren Lands, 1959), Zamanın Yüreği (The Heart of Time, 1982), Şiirler (Poems, 1983), Kentin Küçük Sokağı (The Little Street of the City, 1995), Seçme Şiirler (Selected Poems, 1997).

He also translated from Lorca.