Ali Oktay Rifat, better known as Oktay Rifat, (10 June 1914 – 18 April 1988) was a Turkish writer and playwright, and one of the forefront

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 ...

s of modern

Turkish poetry There were a number of poetic trends in the poetry of Turkey in the early years of the Republic of Turkey. Authors such as Ahmed Hâşim and Yahyâ Kemâl Beyatlı (1884–1958) continued to write important formal verse whose language was, to a g ...

since the late 1930s. He was the founder of the Garip movement, together with

Orhan Veli Orhan Ghazi ( ota, اورخان غازی; tr, Orhan Gazi, also spelled Orkhan, 1281 – March 1362) was the second bey of the Ottoman Beylik from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his ...

and

Melih Cevdet Melih Cevdet Anday (13 March 1915 – 28 November 2002) was a Turkish writer whose poetry stands outside the traditional literary movements. He also wrote in many other genres which, over six and a half decades, included eleven collections of p ...

. Oktay Rifat had a great influence on modern Turkish poetry, standing outside traditional poetic conventions and creating a new movement.

Early life

Oktay Rifat was born on 10 June 1914 in the city of

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 ...

, son of poet and linguist Samih Rifat, who was also governor of Trabzon.:: Republic Of Turkey Ministry Of Culture And Tourism ::
He graduated from Ankara Erkek Lisesi (Ankara Highschool) in 1932, and completed a Bachelor of Law from the

University of Ankara Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

. He was appointed to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

by the State Ministry to do his PhD, however came back after three years without completing his degree due to outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He moved to

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

in 1955, and started to work as a legal adviser for the

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey ...

in 1961. He retired in 1973, and died in Istanbul on 18 April 1988. He was interred at

Karacaahmet Cemetery The Karacaahmet Cemetery ( tr, Karacaahmet Mezarlığı) is a 700-year-old historic cemetery, located in Üsküdar, the Asian side of Istanbul. Karacaahmet cemetery is the oldest and largest in Istanbul at , and the largest burial ground in Turkey ...

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; ...

district of Istanbul.

Career

Oktay Rifat started writing poetry as a high school student, and his first poems were published between 1936 and 1944 in the literature journal

Varlık ''Varlık'' is a monthly Turkish literature and art magazine. Established by Yaşar Nabi Nayır, Sabri Esat Siyavuşgil, and Nahit Sırrı Örik in 1933, it often publishes poetry and works of famous Turkish poets and writers. History and pr ...

(Existence). In 1941, together with his friends Orhan Veli Kanık and

Melih Cevdet Anday Melih Cevdet Anday (13 March 1915 – 28 November 2002) was a Turkish writer whose poetry stands outside the traditional literary movements. He also wrote in many other genres which, over six and a half decades, included eleven collections of p ...

, he published the famous book ''Garip'', which formed the first example of the Garip, or 'Strange' movement. His poems, which use all the richness of his native

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

, include ''Karga ile Tilki'' (''The Crow and the Fox''), for which he won the Yeditepe Poetry Prize in 1955. His work rejected older, complex forms, favouring simplicity and fresh rhythms. Oktay Rifat also published novels such as ''Bir Kadının Penceresinden'' (''Through a Woman’s Window'') and ''Danaburnu'' (''Calf Nose''), theatre plays such as ''Kadınlar Arasında'' (''Among Women'', first staged in 1948) and translated older works into Turkish from Latin and Greek.

Bibliography

*''Garip'' (with Orhan Veli and Melih Cevdet, 1941) *''Yaşayıp Ölmek Aşk ve Avarelik Üstüne Şiirler'' (1945) *''Güzelleme'' (1945) *''Aşağı Yukarı'' (1952) *''Karga ile Tilki'' (1954) *''Perçemli Sokak'' (1956) *''Âşık Merdiveni'' (1958) *''İkilik'' (Aşağı Yukarı ve Karga ile Tilki'nin ikinci baskısı,1963) *''Elleri Var Özgürlüğün'' (1966) *''Şiirler'' (1969) *''Yeni Şiirler'' (1973) *''Çobanıl Şiirler'' (1976) *''Bir Kadının Penceresinden'' (1976) *''Bir Cıgara İçimi'' (1979) *''Elifli'' (1980) *''Danaburnu'' (1980) *''Denize Doğru Konuşma'' (1982) *''Dilsiz ve Çıplak'' (1984) *''Koca Bir Yaz'' (1987) *''Bütün Şiirleri'' (1991)

Awards

*1954 Yeditepe Poetry Award - for ''Karga ile Tilki'' *1970 Turkish Language Institute Poetry Award - for his book ''Şiirler'' (''Poems'') *1970 Ankara ArtLovers Foundation Best Play of the Year and TRT Art Awards Competition Best Talent Award for his theatre play called ''Yağmur Sıkıntısı'' (''Oppressive Air'') *1980 Sedat Simavi Foundation Award - for poetry in the book ''Bir Cigara İçimi'' (''Smoking a Cigarette'') *1984 Necatigil Poetry Award- for his book ''Dilsiz ve Çıplak (''Mute and Naked'') *1980 Madaralı Roman Award - for his novel ''Danaburnu'' In 1998 he was honored with monuments in Istanbul. These include a statue made by Namık Denizhan and as an inclusion in the parks main sculpture, Gürdal Duyars' ''Şairler Sofası''. Both artworks were erected in the Şairler Sofası Park in Istanbul and inaugurated in 1998 with opening of the park.

References

External links

Selected poems of Oktay Rifat translated into English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rifat, Oktay Burials at Karacaahmet Cemetery Turkish poets Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni 1914 births 1988 deaths 20th-century poets