Conceived for the 17th Istanbul Biennial, Poetry Channel calls for the poet’s mind and words to guide new ways of thinking in these unprecedented times. It brings together 15 contemporary poets to respond to the current course of world events by writing one poem every month throughout 2021. It is also informed by the poetic liaisons of two poets from the past, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Nâzım Hikmet, both long gone, yet speaking to us today more powerfully than ever before.

Collected and newly commissioned poems have found their way into the public sphere by way of Açık Radyo and Biennial podcasts since May 2021, building towards a multi-form and multi-platform diffusion before, during and after the Biennial. They can be encountered in second-hand bookstores, cafés, restaurants, shops, printed and digital publications, live performances by Performistanbul, on bus stops and billboards, and in gatherings at multiple public and less public venues. Creating an alternative narration of news under the umbrella of the Biennial, the project opens dialogues on critical and artistic expression and public access to poetry.

A selection from the poems is brought together in a poetry book, available online in English. The printed Turkish edition can be purchased from the Biennial venues Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum, Barın Han and Müze Gazhane.

The complete list of the venues that play host to the poems can be seen below. Please click to view the venues on the map.

To view the events to take place under the scope of the Poetry Channel, please visit the public programme page.

Central Hub: Nostalji Books & Coffee

• Acıbadem University School of Medicine
• Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir Beyoğlu (Candy Shop)
• Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir Kadıköy (Candy Shop)
• Altın Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Barış Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Belki Kitabevi (Bookstore)
• Darülaceze Huzurevi (Nursery)
• DEM Moda (Café)
• Espo Coffee (Café)
• Ethique Plant Based (Cafe & Patisserie)
• Frankeştayn Kitabevi (Bookstore)
• Gezegen Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Gezgin Kitapçı (Bookstore)
• Glouton (Restaurant)
• Hermes Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Heybeliada Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Bağcılar
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Beşiktaş
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Beyoğlu
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Eminönü
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Gazhane
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Karaköy
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Kadıköy
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Mecidiyeköy
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Panorama
• İBB İstanbul Kitapçısı | IMM Istanbul Bookstore Yerebatan Sarnıcı | The Basilica Cistern
• İnat Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Kadıköy Sineması (Movie Theatre)
• Karaağaç Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Kitap Borsası Sahaf ve Müzayede Evi (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Kırmızı Kedi Kitabevi (Bookstore)
• Kırk Ambar Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Librakons (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Mamati Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Mektup Kırtasiye (Stationary)
• Melis Eczanesi (Pharmacy)
• Miss Pizza Şişhane (Restaurant)
• Muhsin Kitap (Bookstore)
• Noir Pit Pera (Café & Restaurant)
• Petra Roastery Co. Topağacı (Café)
• Robinson Crusoe (Bookstore)
• Sahaf Rengin (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Sinametek (Movie Theatre)
• Şelale Kırtasiye (Stationary)
• Wêjegeh Amed / Diyarbakır Edebiyat Evi (Literature House)
• Tavern (Restaurant & Bar)
• Turkuaz Sahaf (Second-hand Bookstore)
• Urban Cafe (Café)
• Üç Yıldız (Candy Shop)
• Yeniköy Kitapçısı (Bookstore)
• Zeyrek Kitabevi (Second-hand Bookstore)

CONTRIBUTORS

Süreyyya Evren (b. 1972, Istanbul, Turkey) completed his PhD in Political Science at Loughborough University, UK, on the relationship between avant-garde art and radical politics. Since 1991, he has published many novels, storybooks, poetry books, essays, compilations, research books, children’s books, and translations, including poetry books Ebu Garib Neşesi (The Joy of Abu Ghraib, Pan, 2011) and Houdini’den Sonra Ölüm (Death After Houdini, Pan, 2021). His art criticism has been included in many art magazines, including Framework, İstanbul Art News, Kunstforum, Milliyet Sanat, Sanat Dünyamız, Springerin and Third Text. He has lectured on modern and contemporary art and the sociology of arts at many institutions, including SPOT, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Kültür University, Hayat Bilgisi and Kadıköy Moda Sahnesi. He wrote essays for the catalogues of the 11th and 13th Istanbul Biennials in 2009 and 2013, and worked as the editor of all the publications of the 14th Istanbul Biennial in 2015. He co-curated the Berlin-Istanbul exhibition Lock Your Mind at sox 36 and Apartment Project, Berlin, Germany and Istanbul, Turkey (2004); the group exhibition Go Get Them Tiger! within the framework of Group P, Vienna, Austria (2013) and curated Şener Özmen’s solo exhibition Unfiltered at Arter, Istanbul, Turkey (2016). He edited the artist’s book series of Art-ist publications and co-curated the 6th edition of the international literature festival Read My World in Amsterdam, Netherlands, focusing on Turkish literature. Evren now works as the Publications and Content Coordinator at Arter, Istanbul, Turkey.

Mehmet Said Aydın (b. 1983, Diyarbakır, Turkey) is originally from Kızıltepe, lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey. He studied Turkish Language and Literature and has published three poetry books: Kusurlu Bahçe (Tainted Garden, 160. Kilometre, 2011), which was awarded the Arkadaş Z. Özger First Book Special Award and translated into French (Le Jardin Manqué, Kontr, 2017); Sokağın Zoru (Rocks of Streets, 160. Kilometre, 2014) and Lokman Kasidesi (Qasida of Lokman, Everest, 2019). His autobiographical narrative book, Dedemin Definesi (The Treasure of My Grandpa, 2018), was published in a trilingual edition. He has also written two pocketbooks on rakı gastronomy and has translated three books from Turkish to Kurdish, as well as various poems from Kurdish to Turkish. He was a columnist at BirGün, Evrensel Pazar, and gazeteduvar.com and worked as an editor.

Donat Bayer (b. 1977, Istanbul, Turkey) completed both his BA (2003) and MA (2006) in Piano at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory. His first poems were published in magazines such as Milliyet Sanat, Şiir Atı and Kitap-lık in the early 1990s. Between 2004 and 2006, he gave lectures on the analysis of twentieth-century Western music and the history of popular music at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul. In 2007, he received a second Master’s degree in music from City, University of London, UK. He completed his PhD in 2012 at the same university with his thesis on Anglo-American female singer-songwriters. His article on Turkish popular music and women’s rights in modern Turkey was published in Resistance in Contemporary Middle Eastern Cultures: Literature, Cinema and Music (Routledge, 2013). Between 2014 and 2015, he studied piano at Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance, London, UK. He completed his PGCE at UCL Institute of Education, London, UK, in 2016. Between 1999 and 2004, he hosted a weekly radio programme on Açık Radio. Between 2001 and 2011, he wrote extensively on both Western classical music and popular music in newspapers and magazines such as Roll, Radikal, Andante, Kitap-lık and Milliyet Sanat. From 2002–04, he worked as a presenter and music consultant for one of Turkey’s national television channels, TRT2. His first poetry collection, Kötü Kan (Bad Blood, 160. Kilometre) was published in 2017. His translation of selected poems by Ben Lerner, No Art (160. Kilometre) was published in 2019, and his second poetry book Eyüp (160. Kilometre) was published in 2021.

Zeliha B. Cenkci (b. 1995, Antalya, Turkey) lives in Berlin, Germany. They studied Philosophy at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, during which they worked as a translator, editor and journalist for various publishing houses and media organisations. Their poems, critiques and interviews have been published in well-known literary magazines in Turkey and America. Their first book, Odalar ve Şehir, was published by May Publishing (Rooms and Cities, 2018) and was awarded at the Arkadaş Z. Özger Poetry Awards in 2018. After living in Istanbul for 8 years, they migrated to Berlin, Germany due to the rising political oppression in Turkey. Currently, they continue their second Master’s degree at Freie Univeristat Berlin on the Interdisciplinary Studies of the Middle East. On the one hand, the poet works as a workshopper on the gender hierarchy at the Mobile University for Migrant Workers, organised by European Alternatives. Alongside their literary interest, they has a passion for photography, collage art and hip-hop culture.

Sevinç Çalhanoğlu (b. 1988, Istanbul, Turkey) received her Bachelor’s in History at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey. Her work revolves around memory of space, childhood narratives and transformational aspects of literature. In addition to poems and essays, she creates interdisciplinary literary works incorporating sound and photography. Among the festivals and exhibitions in which she has participated are The Myth of the Death Dance Illuminates the Questions, Zilberman Projects, Istanbul, Turkey (2017); HER HÂL, Salt Galata, Istanbul, Turkey (2017); Double Language performance series, Soloway Gallery, New York, US (2018); Read My World Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2018); Echo Exhibit, LMCC, New York, US (2020) and reading performances atCollapsable Hole by Ugly Duckling Presse, New York (2019), and at Grolier Poetry, Cambridge, MA (2021). Her published books are Evde Bir Gezinti (Periferik) (Nod, 2016; English edition, A Promenade at Home, Bored Wolves, 2021); Et/ve/Fal (Meat/and/Fortune, Heterotopya, 2017); My Life in Curves Recently (Bored Wolves, 2020) and Gezintide Bir Ev [Home in a Circuitous Path] (Can Yayınları, 2021). She is the editor of the Turkish poetry journal Moero.

Cevat Çapan (b. 1933, Darıca, Turkey) studied at Robert College (1945–53), and read English at Peterhouse, Cambridge University (1953–56), UK, after which he worked as a programme assistant, translator and announcer in the BBC’s Turkish Section until 1957. After returning to Turkey, he worked as a professor at Istanbul University Department of English Language and Literature (1960–80), Mimar Sinan University Faculty of Fine Arts (1980–1996), Yeditepe University Faculty of Arts and Sciences (1996–2012), Haliç University Conservatory Department of Theatre (2012–17), and in the early 1980s was Fulbright Professor at New York University, US. He has also lectured at Boğaziçi, Marmara, Anadolu and New York Universities. Besides his various published poetry books, he is the author of several critical studies of English-language drama, has edited anthologies of contemporary Greek, English and American poetry, and has translated poetry and plays by major European and North American authors.

Ersun Çıplak (b. 1976, Adana, Turkey) graduated from the Çukurova University, and works as a psychological counsellor. He is married, and has a daughter. He completed his PhD with his thesis on ‘An Experimental Study of Using Poems in Group Counselling’ in 2015. His poems, reviews, translations and interviews have been published in many journals, especially Varlık, Kitap-lık and Natama. He has served on the editorial board of Yom and Karayazı literary magazines. Çıplak’s published books are Eksik Emanet (Impaired Consignment, Karahan/Karayazı, 2009), Minima Poetika (Dedalus, 2013), Sen Anlama (Let You Not Understand, A5, 2017), Kaostan Düzen Arayışına (From Chaos to Search for Order: Essays on the Mythological Adventure of Man, A7, 2020).

Devrim Dirlikyapan (b. 1974, Nevşehir, Turkey) currently works at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. He studied Economics at Eskişehir Anadolu University (1997) and then worked as a journalist and editor, and ran a cultural café in Eskişehir. He has served on the editorial board of several journals like DüşeYaza Edebiyat (1998–99), Genç Edebiyat (1994) and Akıntıya Karşı Şiir (1993). He completed his Master's thesis ‘İkinci Yeni Dışında Bir Şair: Edip Cansever’ (A Poet Outside the Second New Movement: Edip Cansever) at the Department of Turkish Literature in Bilkent University. He received his PhD in 2007 from the same university with his thesis on 'Phoenix’in Evrimi: Edip Cansever’de Dramatik Monolog' (The Evolution of Phoenix: Dramatic Monologue in Edip Cansever). His book Ölümü Gömdüm, Geliyorum: Edip Cansever Şiirinde Varolma Biçimleri (I Buried Death, am Coming: The Ways of Existence in Edip Cansever’s Poetry) was published in 2013 by Metis. He edited Şiiri Şiirle Ölçmek (Measuring Poetry with Poetry, Yapı Kredi, 2009), which consists of Edip Cansever’s essays and interviews, and Yokluğun Derdi: Nevşehirli Âşık Ahmet’in Yaşamı, Sanatı, Şiirleri (Suffering Poverty: The Life, Art and Poetry of Ashik Ahmet, Ürün, 2014), a study of a minstrel of modern Turkey. His first poetry book Epitaph (Çankaya Municipality, 1995) won several awards. His second book Karla Gelen (Who the Snow Brings, Bilgi, 1998) also won the Behçet Aysan Poetry Award in 1997, and Cemal Süreya Poetry Award in 1999. His third book İmdat İşaretleri (SOS Signs, Yitik Ülke) was published in 2014. He worked at the European University of Lefke in Cyprus between 2007 and 2010, and at Çağ University between 2011 and 2017.

Haydar Ergülen (b. 1956, Eskişehir, Turkey) is married, and Nar's father. He studied Sociology at the Middle East Technical University, and worked as a translator and advertising copywriter. His first poetry book Karşılığını Bulamamış Sorular (Questions Who Could Not Find Answers) was published in 1981. He has published 16 poetry volumes and, 30 essay books. He has won various Turkish poetry prizes, served as a jury member for many poetry contests, and attended various poetry festivals and events in Turkey and abroad. Together with friends, he published the poetry magazines Üç Çiçek (Three Flowers) in 1983, and Şiir Atı (Poetry Horse) in 1986. He participated in the preparation of the Yazılıkaya (Written Rock) magazine published in Eskişehir and is the Director of the International Eskişehir Poetry Festival and the İzmir International Literature Festival. He gives lectures at universities on creative writing, poetry and philosophy, organises workshops on creative writing and poetry, and writes regularly for newspapers and magazines on poetry, literature, and culture. His published books in foreign countries are Carnet Intime (Al Manar, France, 2012); Grenade ou Nar (Editions L’Harmattan, France, 2015); Die Ecken Deiner Stille (Elif Verlag, Germany, 2019); Pomegranate Garden (Parthian Books, United Kingdom, 2019) and La Casa Nella Melegrana (Valigie Rosse, Italy, 2020). Many of his poems have been published in international poetry anthologies and magazines.

Mehmet Erte (b. 1978, İzmir, Turkey) completed his undergraduate studies in Physics at Sakarya University. He was introduced to the literature world in Turkey with his first poem, ‘Yıldırımları Beklemek’ (Awaiting the Lightenings) published in the literary journal Varlık in 1999, by the poet and writer Lale Müldür. Erte’s poems, short stories, essays and interviews have been published in various literary journals, such as Varlık, Kitap-lık and Yasakmeyve. In 2003, his poetry collection Suyu Bulandıran Şey (What Muddies the Water) won the Yaşar Nabi Nayır Poetry Award (with Seyyidhan Kömürcü), and was published as a book by Varlık Publications. His second poetry collection, Alçalma (Humbling, 2010) was published by Yapı Kredi Publications. His two poetry collections were combined into one book by the publisher zoomkitap in 2016. His third poetry collection, Çatlak [Crack] (April 2021) was published by Edebi Şeyler. His first short story collection, Bakışın Kirlettiği Ayna (The Mirror Smeared by the Looking, 2008), his first novel, Sahte (Fake, 2012), and his second short story collection, Arzuda Bir Sapma (A Swerve in Desire, 2015) were published by Yapı Kredi Publications. He worked as an editor of Yasakmeyve from 2003–05 and at Varlık Publications since 2003; since 2015, he has been working as the editor of Turkey’s longest-standing literary journal Varlık.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz (b. 1911, Sialkot, British India; d. 1984, Lahore, Pakistan) was one of the most celebrated poets and authors in the Urdu and Punjabi languages. He studied Arabic and English literature and began his teaching career in 1939. He started his poetry with ghazals and steadily shifted his attention to nazm, becoming renowned in both forms among progressive poets. He released his first poetry collection Naqsh-e Faryadi (The Image of One Who Laments) in 1941. Faiz’s early poems were conventional, light-hearted treatises on love and beauty, but later he began to expand into politics. Taking up posts on the Pakistan Times and Imroz newspapers, he soon became an acclaimed journalist as well as a poet. In 1951, Faiz was arrested together with 14 others in what was became known as the ‘Rawalpindi Conspiracy’ case and spent four years in prison. He was later arrested again when Pakistans’s first military dictator General Ayub came to power and served six months in prison. His poetry collections include Dast-e-saba (Hand of the Wind, 1952); Zindan Nama (Prison Notebook, 1956); Dast-e Tah-e-Sang (Hand Under a Stone, 1965); Sar-e-Wadi-e-Sina, (The Valley of Sinai, 1971); Sham-e-Sheher-e-Yaran (Evening of Kings, 1978)and Mere Dil Mere Musafir (My Heart, My Traveller, 1981). Faiz was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (1962) and Lotus Prize for Literature (1976) and was a nominee for the Nobel Prize in 1984.

Nâzım Hikmet (b. 1902, Thessaloniki, Ottoman Empire; d. 1963, Moscow, USSR) was a poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director and memoirist. He was exposed to poetry at an early age through his artist mother and poet grandfather, and had his first poems published when he was seventeen. He left for Moscow in September of 1921. Having been acquitted from many cases brought against him due to his poems, Hikmet was arrested in 1933 and 1937 for forming secret societies. In 1938, he was arrested on charges of ‘inciting rebellion in the army and navy’ and was sentenced to 28 years and four months in prison. Although he was under no legal obligation, he was drafted into the army and left İstanbul in 1951 for Moscow via Romania. His Turkish citizenship was revoked upon a decision taken by the Council of Ministers. Hikmet’s works, which include poems, newspaper articles, novels, short stories, and translations, were banned in Turkey from 1939 to 1965. Published in different editions from 1965 onwards, they were brought together as complete works, and many translated into English, including Selected Poems (Cape, 1967); The Moscow Symphony (Swallow Pt, 1970); The Day Before Tomorrow (Carcanet Press, 1972); Things I Didn't Know I Loved (Persea, 1975) and Human Landscapes from My Country: An Epic Novel in Verse (Persea, 2009).

Cem Kurtuluş (b. 1985, Istanbul, Turkey) directed, for stage, Woody Allen’s God, Chekhov’s Short Skits and Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape during his high school years in Istanbul. Having lost his mother, he published Madde (Matter, Yasakmeyve, 2005) in collaboration with Efe Murad. He completed his BA in Literary Theory at Bates College in the post-industrial ghost town, Lewiston Maine, US, and then returned to city life in New York, which quickly proved a dystopian version of what Istanbul, later by Gezi, actually became. He first waited tables, and, thanks to the mentorship of important documentary and TV leaders such as Volga Calderon, Morgan Spurlock and Tom Donahue, eventually became a video editor, making The Hungry Boy (short animation, 2012) with Jake Nelson, distributed by ARTE. He published the poetry collection surun cem e (160. Kilometre, 2012); two chapbooks (Sub Yayin, with Efe Murad, 2016) and other poems and writings in various online and printed zines like Da Baddest. Aside from editing TV and documentary projects, he assists in the day-to-day responsibilities of running Lotus in the Mud, a public compost garden founded by painter/illustrator Justyna Milczuk, who is also the co-director of Kurtuluş’s second animated short, currently in production.

Bejan Matur (b. 1968, Maraş, Turkey) is a pioneering figure in contemporary poetry and lives between London, UK, and Istanbul, Turkey. She is a graduate of Ankara University Faculty of Law. Her poems have been translated into 42 languages, and have won numerous awards. She has participated in countless conferences and festivals in many countries and has written articles and essays, and published eleven books, nine of which are poetry. Her music-accompanied poetry has been presented to a wide audience on prestigious stages like the Royal Opera House and Kings Place London, UK, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia and Princeton University. Her book How Abraham Abandoned Me (Arc, 2012) became the ‘Recommended Translation for Spring 2012’ by the Poetry Book Society founded by T.S. Eliot.

Mustafa Erdem Özler (b. 1967, Muğla, Turkey) lives and works in Datça, Turkey. He graduated from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul University in 1988 and continued with a Masters at the Institute of Social Sciences of Boğaziçi University. He published his poetry book Kelebekli Zaman (Stages of Butterfly, Can Publications) in 2001. He presented his sound installation Surrender! at Sox36 Art Gallery in Berlin in September 2004. In 2008, he received the Cemal Süreya Poetry Prize and the following year he published his poetry book Erdem Devesi (Virtue Camel, Metis Publications). His notebook design Istanbul Istanbul was selected for the Destination Istanbul project of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, US, in 2011. He exhibited the sound installation Calling the Precarious! in Go Get Them Tiger at P Group in MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Austria in 2013. In 2013, his poetry book Tarihi Ayı Öfkesi (Historic Bear Rage) was published by Metis Publications. His sound installation Rupture was included in the exhibition Land Without Land at Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany, in 2016.

Gonca Özmen (b. 1982, Burdur, Turkey) lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey. She graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature at Istanbul University in 2004. She received her MA degree in 2008, and PhD degree in 2016 from the same department. In 1997, her first poem was published in literary journal Varlık, and she was named ‘a poet to watch in the future’ at The Yaşar Nabi Nayır Youth Prizes. Her first poetry book Kuytumda (In My Nook)was published in 2000; then came Belki Sessiz (Silent Perhaps) in 2008, and Bile İsteye (Knowingly, Willingly) in 2019. Her poems have been translated into English, German, French, Spanish, Slovenian, Italian, Romanian, Persian, Greek and Hebrew. The Sea Within (Selected Poems) was published by Shearsman Books in 2011, and her second book Vielleicht Lautlos was published by Elif Verlag in 2017. Having participated in international poetry readings in various countries abroad, Özmen has won numerous poetry awards. She edited Çağdaş İrlanda Şiiri Seçkisi (Selection of Contemporary Irish Poetry, Edisam, 2010) and İlhan Berk’s Çiğnenmiş Gül (Trampled Rose, Yapı Kredi, 2011), a collection of the late poet’s unpublished poems. She sat on the editorial board of a literary translation magazine Ç.N. (Translator’s Note), and the literary magazines Pulbiber (Chilli Flakes) and Çevrimdışı Istanbul (Offline Istanbul). She has translated five children’s books for Kırmızı Kedi Publications: Small in the City by Sydney Smith (2020); The It-Doesn’t-Matter-Suit and Other Stories by Sylvia Plath (2020); I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott (2021); Flibbertigibbety Words-Young Shakespeare Chases Inspiration by Donna Guthrie (2021) and Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz (2022). She was one of the members of the advisory board of Bursa Nilüfer International Poetry Festival, Three Seas Writers’ and Translators’ Council (TSWTC) based in Rhodes, Greece, and the magazine, Turkish Poetry Today, which was published annually by Red Hand Books, UK. She is currently editing the Turkish poet Küçük İskender’s work for Can Publishing, and translating the Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath.

Anita Sezgener (b. 1971, Istanbul, Turkey) is from a Sephardic Jewish family and is the mother of Alina since 2017. Her poems, prose, essays, translations, and interviews have appeared in various journals and books. She is the translator of Anne Carson’s Short Talks (2018), Raymond Federman’s Voice in the Closet (2018) and Jennifer Martenson’s Xq28(1) (2015),published by Nod Publishing House. She also makes archetypal drawings for books and covers. Since 2008, she has been the maker and editor of the culture-art-literature zine Cin Ayşe, a visibility project for women. She is also one of the editors of Moero Fanzine, an online poetry zine. In 2022, she was one of the participants of an exhibition titled Why do poets paint?, which was curated by Dr. Necmi Sönmez and held in both Antalya Kültür Sanat andIstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Saraçhane Exhibition Hall. Her published books are: Pusu Bilici (Ambush Finder, Norgunk, 2008); Taşlık (Stony Place, Yasakmeyve, 2011); Hafif Zehirler (Light Poison, Pan, 2012); Normalia (NOD, 2014); Çok Sesi (Voice Many, Heterotopya, 2015); Tikkun Olam: Walter Benjamin Şiirleri (Tikkun Olam: Walter Benjamin Poems, Nod, 2017); Nabız Kayıt (Pulse Records, Nod, 2020); Aritmi Koridoru: Toplu Yazılar (Corridor of Arrhythmia: Collected Writings, Everest Essay, 2020) and She Threw the Rope & Pulled the Lake (Alina said, Anita drew) (Bored Wolves, 2021).

Neşe Yaşın (b. 1959, Nicosia, Cyprus) lived in the mixed Greek/Turkish village of Peristerona, in the south of Cyprus during her early childhood years. She moved to Nicosia with her family in 1963 after the intercommunal strife in Cyprus, and lived in the Turkish enclaves for three years. She graduated from the secondary education institution, the English School, which was then named Turk Maarif Koleji. She studied Sociology at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. She worked as an active peace activist from a very young age for the reunification of Cyprus. As a poet, she became well-known and read on both sides of the divided Cyprus. Her poems have been translated into more than 40 languages, and published in literary magazines and anthologies in several countries. She has participated in international poetry festivals and readings in various cities of Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Australia. Currently, she is teaching language and literature at the Turkish Studies Department of the University of Cyprus, writing weekly columns for Yenidüzen newspaper (Cyprus), after working as a columnist for BirGün newspaper for six years. Her published books of poetry are Sümbül ile Nergis (Hyacinth and Narcissus, Cem, 1979); Savaşların Gözyaşları (Tears of Wars, Yeni Türkü, 1980); Kapılar (Doors, Cem, 1992); Ay Aşktan Yapılmıştır (The Moon is Made of Love, Gendaş, 2000); Bellek Odaları (Chambers of Memory, Dünya, 2005); Şiir Seçkisi (Selected Poems, Amargi, 2008); Üşümüş Kuşlar (Cold Birds, Ayrıntı, 2016); Garden of Light (Epifani, 2016); Rose Falling into Night (Heterotopia, 2017) and Απαγορευμένοι κήποι (Forbidden Gardens, Vakxikon, 2019). She has also published the book Şiirle Hatırlamak (Remembering Through Poetry, Söylem, 2013), and the novel Üzgün Kızların Gizli Tarihi (Secret History of Sad Girls, İletişim, 2002). Among other prizes, Yaşın received the Anthias Pierides Award in 1998.

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