ATABAŞ, Hüseyin

Poet and writer (b. 10 July 1943, Küçükdere / Vakfıkebir / Trabzon). He attended primary school in his hometown. He attended a high school in Ankara and graduated from Ankara Academy of Economics and Commerce. He worked in Military Solidarity Institution (1971-79), in Ankara Metropolitan Municipality as the reporter of the Housing and Management Council and as the branch manager of Library and Publication Services (1979-94) and then retired. He served as editor and Press-Publication Coordinator in Ankara University, Turkish and Foreign Language Research and Application Center (1999-2005). He is a member of the Writers Syndicate of Türkiye, Language Society and Turkish Authors Associaton (founder and member of executive board for 7 years), PEN Writers Association and the Association of Writers of Literary and Scientific Works (founder member).

His first poem Kardeşçe (Brotherly) was published in the newspaper Kütahya issued in 1 May 1961. In the following years his poems and articles were published in the reviews Sanat Dünyası, Çağrı, Çete, Defne, Hisar, Türk Dili, Oluşum, Türkiye Yazıları, Halkoyu, Varlık, Özün, Kıyı, Biçem, Çağdaş Türk Dili, Oluşum (editor-in-chief), Yazın (chief editor), Edebiyat ve Eleştiri, Hürriyet Gösteri, Özün, Kıyı, Şiir Ülkesi Anadili, Kum and Ünlem. His articles on problems concerning arts and society were published in the newspapers Barış, Yeni Ortam, Cumhuriyet, Yeni Politika and Siyah Beyaz. He announced programs about book presentation and poetry in the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s International Channel (1997-98) and in private radio channels in Ankara (1997-99). He received the first rank with his five poems in the poetry branch of the competitions of the review Demokratik Sol in 1974. He received 1994 Cevdet Kudret Literature Award with İlkyaz Töreni (Spring Ceremony) and 2005 Ceyhun Atuf Kansu Poetry Award with Yorgun Denge (The Tired Balance). Some of his poems were translated into Arabic, German and French. He traveled for art to Iraq, Holland and Germany since 1987. He arranged a large number of artistic activities and collected them in a book.

WORKS:

POETRY: Gelecek (The Future, 1975), Yanarca (Flame, 1979), Bitmeyen (Endless, 1983), Yüzün Bende (Your Face is with Me, 1988), İlkyaz Töreni (Spring Ceremony, 1993), Saydam ve Gizli (Opaque and Secret, 1997), Düşe Yazdım (I Have Written on Dream, 2002), Yorgun Denge (The Tired Balance, 2005).

ESSAY: Kale ve Bozkır (The Castle and the Steppe, 1994), Özgürlüğün Geldiği Gün (The Day Freedom Arrived, 1999), Türkçe, Yaralı Dilim (Turkish, My Wounded Language, 2003.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: Şimdi Okullu Olduk (We are Pupils Now, 1992), Bilmece Bildirmece (Riddles and Puzzles, 1992).

COLLECTION: Melih Cevdet Anday Günleri (Melih Cevdet Anday Days, 1994), Aziz Nesin Günleri (Aziz Nesin Days, 1995), Cumhuriyet Dönemi Türk Edebiyatı (Turkish Literature in Republic Period, with Aydın Şimşek and Devrim Dirlikyapan, 1998), Ankara Rüzgarı (Ankara Wind, with Ali Cengizkan, 1998), Ceyhun Atuf Kansu Şiir Buluşması (Ceyhun Atuf Kansu Poetry Meeting, 1999), Türk Öykü ve Romanı (Turkish Short Story and Novel, 2000), 2000 Yılında Türk Şiiri (Turkish Poetry in the Year 2000), Türkiye’de Eleştiri ve Deneme (Critique and Essay in Türkiye, 2001), Türkçe’nin Yurttaşı Nazım Hikmet (Nazım Hikmet, the Citizen of Turkish Language, 2003), Dil ve Dilimiz Türkçe (Language and Our Language Turkish, 2005).