CEMAL SÜREYA

Cemal Süreya is one of the most important poets of the modern turkish poetry. He is also one of the most popular one in younger generation. He belongs to the first post-war(and post uniparty rule) generation of poets together with Edip Cansever and Turgut Uyar who totally changed the concept of a poem and the usage of language. They were called by their critics as 'Second New' (referring to Garip movement as the 'First New'). He was born in 1931 in Erzincan. Although being of Kurdish/Zaza origin, at home turkish was spoken. After the Dersim revolt, they were forced to migrate and settle in western Anatolia, in Bilecik. He managed to go part of his primary and all the secondary school in Istanbul. In 1954, he entered to the Faculty of Political Sciences in Ankara and studied Finance. Until his retirement in 1965, he worked in Ministry of Finance. His first published poetry book Üvercinka in 1953 (an acronym for Güvercin Kanadı (or Kadını) meaning Pigeon Wing(or Women) was the first signal of a change in contemporary poetry. He wrote in newspapers and periodicals and became part of the literal and art circles. He published his own literature periodical Papirüs in 1960, 1966-70 and finally again in 1980-1. He died in 1990 probably of heart attack. Currently this site contains his biography, a large collection his poems, some of his letters and some interviews made with him, all published elsewere and digitalized by me in late nights. It is an ongoing project.