George Messo (born April 10, 1969) is an expatriate

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and translator who was born in rural Lincolnshire, near the town of

Barton-Upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is ...

. He moved to

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, in 1998 and has since lived in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. He was the editor of ''Near East Review'' from 2001 to 2007. Messo is a Fellow of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

Poetry

Messo's poetry collections are ''From the Pine Observatory'' (2000), ''Entrances'' (2006), ''Hearing Still'' (2009) and ''Violades & Appledown'' (2012). He appeared in the 2006 Stride anthology, ''The Allotment: New Lyric Poets'', edited by Andy Brown. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' has associated Messo with the so-called Istanbul School, which includes the English poet and travel writer John Ash.

Translation

Messo is a prominent translator of Turkish poetry. He was shortlisted for the

Popescu Prize The Popescu Prize is a biennial poetry award established in 1983.Popescu Prize
, official w ...

for European poetry translation in 2007 for his versions of

İlhan Berk İlhan Berk (18 November 1918 – 28 August 2008) was a leading Turkish poet. He was a dominant figure in the postmodern current in Turkish poetry (termed, "İkinci Yeni"; ''"The second new generation"'') and was very influential among Turkish l ...

, ''A Leaf about to Fall: Selected Poems'' (2006) and again in 2011 for ''İkinci Yeni: The Turkish Avant-Garde'' (2009). Other books include both İlhan Berk's ''Madrigals'' (2008) and poetic trilogy, ''The Book of Things'' (2009), two major anthologies ''İkinci Yeni: The Turkish Avant-Garde'' (2009) and ''From This Bridge: Contemporary Turkish Women Poets'' (2010), as well as Gonca Özmen's ''The Sea Within'' (2011) and Birhan Keskin's ''& Silk & Love & Flame'' (2013). Messo is the editor of the ''Turkish Modern Poets Series'' fo
Red Hand Books
and the editor of the bi-lingual journa
''Turkish Poetry Today''

References

External links

''Doing the Translocal:'' on George Messo's ''Entrances'' by Alistair Noon
at Shearsman Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Messo, George 1969 births Living people English-language poets People from Barton-upon-Humber Turkish–English translators English male poets