Orhan Veli Kanık

Orhan Veli, as he is known in the world of literature, was an important part of the new poetry movement in Turkey. In 1941 he, Oktay Rifat, and Melih Cevdat Anday published their joint poetry collection Garip (Stranger) and became leaders of the movement that took its name from their volume. Born mehr anzeigen in Istanbul into an artistic middle-class family, Orhan Veli initially pursued a career as a bureaucrat. However, he soon left this vocation to follow a "free" and dissipated lifestyle. He died at age 36, his very brief life ended by a brain tumor. In the last years of his life, he published and edited the important literary journal Yaprak (Leaf). In all, he produced only five poetry collections and some prose pieces. Orhan Veli broke with the old poetic traditions, writing in free verse and using colloquial language. His images are quick, his repetition is striking, and his flowing lines are powerful, lyrical, evocative, and engaging. A prime example of his prosody is his well-known poem "Istanbul'u Dinliyorum" ("I Am Listening to Istanbul"). (Bowker Author Biography) weniger anzeigen