Üstün Bilgen-Reinart (born 1947 in

Ankara, Turkey Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( Etimesgut, Yenimahalle, Çankaya, Keçiören, Altında ...

) is a Turkish-Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster, author of three notable books, the first two on the social and environmental dislocations associated with development in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and western

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, respectively on the ordeals experienced by the relocated

Aboriginal peoples of Canada Indigenous peoples in Canada (also known as Aboriginals) are the Indigenous peoples within the boundaries of Canada. They comprise the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, representing roughly 5.0% of the total Canadian population. There are over ...

, the

Sayisi Dene The Sayisi Dene ('People under the Sun' or 'People of the East', ) are Dene Suline peoples, a Dene group, living in northern Manitoba. They are members of the Sayisi Dene First Nation (formerly known as Churchill Indian Band), located at Tadoule ...

First Nation in

Tadoule Lake, Manitoba Tadoule Lake () is an isolated northern community in Manitoba reachable by plane, snowmobile, dog team sleds, and in winter by winter road. In 1973, the Sayisi Dene moved here to return to their Barren-ground Caribou hunting life. The name appe ...

, and then by

Bergama Bergama is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,544 km2, and its population is 105,754 (2022). By excluding İzmir's metropolitan area, it is one of the prominent districts of the province in terms of populatio ...

villagers of Turkey's

Aegean Region The Aegean region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...

campaigning against

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...

in their land. Her latest book, the autobiographical "Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates: A Woman's Trek through Turkey" was published 2008.

Biography

Bilgen-Reinart was born in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. After her graduation from

TED Ankara College TED Ankara College Foundation Schools is a group of private schools in Turkey. It consists of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools. Its İncek Campus, considered sizeable with 141,000 square meters of enclosed and over 309,000 square ...

, she went to Canada and pursued her studies and professional life there. She studied

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW, or U of W) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It offers undergraduate programs in art, business, economics, education, science and applied health as well as graduate progra ...

. She started working in the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

as a researcher, and then as broadcaster and producer. In 1995, with a scholarship granted by the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

, she co-authored with Ila Bussidor, a Sayisi Dene, the story of the Sayisi Dene First Nation, an aboriginal community of Canada who were forcibly moved from their ancestral lands in 1956, and deported to and relocated in an urban environment. The book, which tells the story from the natives' own viewpoint, is titled ''Night Spirits: The Story of the Relocation of the Sayisi Dene''. The relocation destroyed the independence of Sayisi Dene, ruined their way of life, and one-third of their population perished because of the unplanned, misdirected government action. In 2003, Bilgen's second book was published, ''Biz Toprağı Bilirik!'' (), on the decade-long resistance of the population of 17 villages around

, close to Allianoi, against the gold mining activities of the company Eurogold in their land and to the nefarious consequences on the environment and on the villagers' traditional lifestyle, particularly due to the use of

cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...

in the mining pit, now managed by Koza. Currently, she teaches English at

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

(METU), Ankara, and is also a free-lance writer for various portals such as

openDemocracy openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage d ...

. In her new memoir, ''Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates'', published in January 2007, Bilgen-Reinart describes a woman's trek through Turkey.

Books

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Canadian Bookshelf link

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilgen-Reinart, Ustun Canadian non-fiction writers Writers from Ankara Turkish emigrants to Canada 20th-century Turkish journalists 20th-century Turkish writers 1947 births Living people Turkish women writers Academic staff of Middle East Technical University TED Ankara College Foundation Schools alumni