 |
Hüseyin Avni Dede, silent poet of Sahaflar
As Avni Dede is always in the shadow of the tree, we met with him there. After he consigned one of his friends to mind his book workbench, we went to the courtyard of the Beyazıt Mosque to talk. The voices of the tram, birds and street vendors accompanied our conversation.
Avni Dede first mentioned his childhood. He grew up in Beyazıt. Avni Dede noted that he began selling books under the plane tree in 1968. He sold the books of his father, who was also a poet, in those times. “The only thing that triggered me to become a poet was my father. In addition, my grandmother read poems extemporarily. The soul of a poet came to me from them,” says Avni Dede. His poems started to be published in 1969 in various magazines, and in 1973 his first book was published.
Of course, the number of his books has increased over time. Avni Dede has published eight books. He is currently writing his ninth -- his memoirs of his time spent with the craftsmen in Beyazıt. Avni Dede is also published in English. Avni Dede explains that his sibling who has been living in a foreign country helped him to prepare the English poetry book. After the book was published, Avni Dede went to England as part of a program. He read his English poems and was filmed for a documentary. Avni Dede, who has a great number of fans, has spread his reputation outside of Turkey.
‘Invitation to the festival boosts my spirits’
Eventually we start to talk with Avni Dede about the third International İstanbul Poetry Festival. Avni Dede said he was invited for this year’s festival for the first time. He underlined that he was pleased to see his poet friends during the festival, which included poetry readings, conferences and workshops. “Of course, it is an honor for me to participate in the festival. Furthermore, I was glad to have an opportunity to see my friends because I had not seen them for a long time. Being with them, enjoying poems read by poets, was very good,” stated Avni Dede.
I lost all my loved ones in rapid succession
While Avni Dede works in Beyazıt, his home is in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district. We asked him whether he is married. He noted that he had a religious wedding rather than civil marriage with a woman who had a son from her previous husband. Shortly after his wife died in 1998, he lost also his mother. “After I lost my wife and mother, my father was my only remaining relative; however, in 1999 he died also, leaving me alone,” Avni Dede said, underlining that the deaths of his loved ones in rapid succession turned his life upside-down.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BÜLENT KENEŞ |  |
||
| What befell Niyazi-i Misri in the past is happening to Fethullah Gülen now | |||
| EKREM DUMANLI |  |
||
| When a call for fairness and reason finds acceptance | |||
| ŞAHİN ALPAY |  |
||
| Uludere, test case for democracy in Turkey | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Are the Kurds mentally divorced from Turkey? | |||
| GÖKHAN BACIK |  |
||
| Erdoğan, Gül and Davutoğlu: the inner bargain on Turkish foreign policy | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| Taking lessons from previous experiences with the military | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| Qualm | |||
| ÖMER TAŞPINAR |  |
||
| A new phase in Syria? | |||
| İHSAN DAĞI |  |
||
| Turkish foreign policy: Time for a re-evaluation | |||
| SEYFETTİN GÜRSEL |  |
||
| Poor-friendly economic growth and the AK Party | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON |  |
||
| Missing women, missing opportunities | |||
| BERK ÇEKTİR |  |
||
| Changes to incentives for investment in Turkey | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK |  |
||
| The 1960 coup: a final test for democracy | |||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
