Oğuz Tansel (February 15, 1915 in Meyre,

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

– October 30, 1994 in Ankara) was a Turkish poet and folklorist.

Early life and career

Tansel graduated from Davutpaşa junior high school and Pertevniyal high school in

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 ...

. He took up teaching as a profession as early as 1938 while studying at the Department of the Turkish Language and Literature of the Faculty of Literature at the

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

and gave it up in 1969 when he retired for health reasons. He taught and held administrative positions in the junior high schools and high schools in

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

Akhisar Akhisar () is a municipality and district of Manisa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,645 km2, and its population is 177,419 (2022). It is the site of the ancient city of Thyatira. With archaeological findings that are proving settlements go ...

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

(Çifteler Village Institute),

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

and

. He was a member of the Turkish Writers’ Union and honorary member of the

Literary Society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newslet ...

Writing career

His early poems employing rhyme and rhythm were published in the periodicals Servetifünun and Varlık and his first article appeared in Halk Bilgisi Haberleri (1937). After 1940 he was seen to turn to

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...

and was noted among Turkish poets of the 1940s generation. He gained recognition with the poems and articles published in numerous literary periodicals such as Varlık, Aydınlık, Yelken, Yeditepe, Kaynak, Dost, Güney, Türk Sanatı, Kıyı, Türk Dili. In his poems where he treated themes of humanism, love, struggle for peace and freedom, equality and socialism he arrived at a plain style of poetry. Alongside poetry, Tansel was the scholar of Turkish folk tales which he had recorded during 1942-1948 in the province of

. He made the highest contribution of over forty types of Turkish folk tales, to the Typen Türkischer Volksmarchen catalog prepared by professors

Pertev Naili Boratav Pertev Naili Boratav, born Mustafa Pertev (September 2, 1907 – March 16, 1998) was a Turkish folklorist and researcher of folk literature. He has been characterized as 'the founding father of Turkish folkloristics during the Republic'.Arzu Öztü ...

and

Wolfram Eberhard Wolfram Eberhard (March 17, 1909 – August 15, 1989) was a professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley focused on Western, Central and Eastern Asian societies. Biography Born in Potsdam, German Empire, he had a str ...

. With the mastery and meticulousness derived from his poetic skill, he formed his own unique, fluent narrative style in writing down those tales for children. He was the first author to receive the Children’s Literature Award in 1977 given by the Turkish Linguistics Society for his two volume collection of folk tale books titled “Al’lı ile Fırfırı”. His poems were composed to music by the American composer Prof. Bruce Reiprich. And recorded live on a CD titled ''Salkım Söğüt'', or ''The Weeping Willow''. On the first anniversary of his death in 1995, his friends had a book ''The Mythical Bird with Three Wings: Oğuz Tansel'' ''(Üç Kanatlı Masal Kuşu: Oğuz Tansel'') published for him.

Death and after

Oğuz Tansel

Turkish Literature Turkish literature () comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language. The Ottoman form of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, was highly influenced by Persian and Arabic literature,Bertold Sp ...

center is established with an Oğuz Tansel Research Library at

Bilkent University Bilkent University () is a private non-profit research university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by İhsan Doğramacı, the first president of the Council of Higher Education and the head of the prominent Doğramacı family, with th ...

. His family together with Ankara Aydınlığı Girişimi instituted a poetry award to commemorate him. His family together with Ankara Aydınlığı Girişimi, Folklor/ Edebiyat Dergisi and Troya Folklor Dernegi also instituted a folklore award to commemorate his achievements. These awards are given one year to a work of poetry and the following year to a work of folklore and the following year to a work of children's Literature.

Works

Poetry

Tansel, Oğuz (1953) Savrulmayı Bekleyen Harman, İstanbul: Yeni Matbaa. Tansel, Oğuz (1962) Gözünü Sevdiğim, Ankara: Dost Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (1986) Sarıkız Yolu, Ankara: Yaz Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (M. Eloğlu ile) (1970) Bektaşi Dedikleri (desenler:

Abidin Dino Abidin Dino (23 March 1913 – 7 December 1993) was a Turkish artist and a well-known painter. Early years Dino was born on 23 March 1913 in Istanbul into an art-loving family. He was grandchild of Abidin Pasha Dino (he is named after him), an ...

) İstanbul: İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1977: İstanbul: Sander Yayınları, 1983: İstanbul: Miyatro Yayınları, 1995: İstanbul: Adam Yayınları, 2004 ve 2008: İstanbul: Evrensel Basım Yayın. Tansel, Oğuz (1999, 2006, 2013) Dağı Öpmeler (ölümünden sonra yayına hazırlayan: A. Tansel) İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (2005, 2013) Mutluluk Peşinde (Seçme Şiirler), İstanbul: Evrensel Basım Yayın. Tansel, Oğuz (2011) Zakkum Çiçeği Tan Yerinde-At the Dawn of Oleander Blossoms (İngilizce-Türkçe Antalya Dolayları Şiirleri), Antalya: Suna-İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Enstitüsü. Tansel, Oğuz (2012) Masal Dünyası-World of Tales (İngilizce-Türkçe Seçme Şiirler / English- Turkish Selected Poems), Ankara: Elips Kitap. Tansel, Oğuz (2017) Gökdeniz-Das Meer am Himmel (Almanca-Türkçe Seçme Şiirler / Ausgewahlte Gedichte auf Deutch und Türkisch), Wassenberg, Almanya: Schulbuchverlag Anadolu. Tansel, Oğuz (with M. Eloğlu) (2020) Dervish Bektashi Gems (Illustrations: Abidin Dino) (Bektaşi Dedikleri kitabı İngilizce) Istanbul: Libra Kitap.

Folk Tales

Tansel, Oğuz (1959) Altı Kardeşler, Ankara: Dost yayınları, (2003) Ankara: MEB Yayınları.(2011) İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (1962) Yedi Devler, İstanbul: Kutulmuş Matbaası Yayınevi (2003) Ankara: MEB Yayınları, (2011) İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (1963) Üç Kızlar, Ankara: Dernek Yayınları, (2003) Ankara: MEB Yayınları,(2011) İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (1966) Mavi Gelin, Ankara: Yaz Yayınları, (2003) Ankara: MEB Yayınları,(2011) İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (1976) Al’lı ile Fırfırı, 2 Cilt, (1977 Türk Dil Kurumu ödülü aldı), İstanbul: Yaz yayınları, (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016) Ankara: Elips Kitap. Tansel, Oğuz, A. Özyalçıner ve diğerleri (1979) Bir de Varmış İki de Varmış, İstanbul: Boyut Yayın, (2006) İstanbul: Boyut Yayın. Tansel, Oğuz (1985) Çobanla Bey Kızı, Ankara: Yaz Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (1985) Konuşan Balıkla Yalnız Kız, Ankara: Yaz Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (2018) Al’lı ile Fırfırı (Rusça’ya Çeviren: Anastasia M. Zherdeva) Kırım: Tarpan Yayınevi. Tansel, Oğuz (2019) Masallar, İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Tansel, Oğuz (2019) Altı Kardeşler, (Rusça’ya Çeviren: Anastasia M. Zherdeva) Kırım: Tarpan Yayınevi. Tansel, Oğuz (2019) Yedi Devler (Rusça’ya Çeviren: Anastasia M. Zherdeva) Kırım: Tarpan Yayınevi.

Books About Him

Turan, Metin (Hazırlayan) (1996) Üç Kanatlı Masal Kuşu: Oğuz Tansel, Ankara: Ürün Yayınları. Genişletilmiş İkinci Basım (2018), Genişletilmiş Üçüncü Basım (2019) ve Genişletilmiş Dördüncü Basım (2021), Ankara: Ürün Yayınları. Eloğlu, Metin (2012) Canım Oğuzcuğum: Oğuz Tansel’e Mektuplar, İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. Atlı, Ferda (2020) Şiirin Mavi Dili, Ankara: Sonçağ Akademi Yayınları..

Awards

Oğuz Tansel was the first to receive the Children’s Literature Award given by the Turkish Linguistics Society in 1977. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tansel, Oguz 1915 births 1994 deaths Turkish poets Turkish folklorists Pertevniyal High School alumni 20th-century Turkish poets