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

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, 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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

s of modern Turkish poetry since the late 1930s. He was the founder of the Garip movement, together with Orhan Veli and Melih Cevdet. 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, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

, son of poet and linguist Samih Rifat, who was also governor of Trabzon.:: Republic Of Turkey Ministry Of Culture And Tourism ::
He was raised in a family that included many artists and writers. His great-grandfather Macar Hurşid Bey was a composer well versed in both Turkish and western music, and his grandfather Colonel Hasan Rıfat Bey was interested in poetry. He graduated from Ankara Erkek Lisesi (Ankara High School) in 1932, and while he was a student of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar in high school, he wrote his first poems. He completed a Bachelor of Law from the University of Ankara but he did not lose his interest in literature and his passion for writing. In 1937, he was appointed to

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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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He moved to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1955, and started to work as a legal adviser for the Turkish State Railways in 1961. He retired in 1973, and died in Istanbul on 18 April 1988. He was interred at Karacaahmet Cemetery in

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

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 (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 people, 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 ...

, 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 known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

, 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 Duyar Gürdal Duyar (20 August 1935 – 18 April 2004) was a Turkish sculptor who is known for his monuments to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Atatürk and his Bust (sculpture), busts of famous people. His art is characterized as having a Modern sculpture, ...

s' ''Şairler Sofası''. Both artworks were erected in the

Şairler Sofası A part of Beşiktaş Vişnezade Park is oriented under the name "Şairler Sofası". ''Şairler Sofası'' is the 1998 sculpture by Gürdal Duyar whose name the park goes by. The depicted characters in the sculpture as well as the figures depict ...

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 Turkish poets