Time flies – in memory of Jack Alun Time flies. So thank goodness books remain. Possibly gathering a bit of dust, but not becoming dust. That’s what people do, I suppose. I’m reading for the nth time Jack Alun’s blog, Neither Here Nor There, written in the middle of a lockdown in the COVID time. He’s stuck in Wales dreaming of France describing writing a new collection of poems that would eventually become ‘Invisible Spaces’. He describes feelings of being cut off geographically and culturally and ‘marooned in a neither here nor there sort of Neverland.’ I am sure he spoke for many who experienced the isolation in all sorts of ways but here I am, years later, stuck in Wales, looking back wondering what happened to all that time and, in particular, how we can ever bridge the gaps that time and space increase. Le temps passe vite. I had to look it up, by the way. French is such a slippery thing, sometimes so elegant and then sometimes, it just lets you down a bit. I remember Jack making me roar with laughter at his tales of going to Paris on a French language course and rapidly deteriorating…
I wrote this book about ten years ago, partly as a response to the sudden death of my mother-in-law, who’d just turned sixty. Time, then, to get something down. But what? I’d studied Keats closely at university, including the letters and Robert Gittings’ biography and had even written a poem about Keats’ arrival in Naples: to have gone through all that, only to be quarantined for another month. So, after a bit more research, I had my plot and also the ending, which I knew would steer clear of Rome, because Anthony Burgess had written a novel about Keats dying there already. Over a period of two years, in cafes and classrooms [empty ones], I gradually put together a series of scenes describing the journey to Italy. I chose third-person focalised narrative because that offered me both descriptive luxuries and the ability to explore voice/point of view. The hardest part was settling on dialogue that didn’t sound like botched Beau Brummell, so I tried to keep it as simple as possible, in contrast to some lusciousness over river-bank and ocean-wave. In particular, I found I enjoyed writing about the Thames [five years’ hard labour in Grays, Essex helped] and about…
This is the fifth volume in the Turkish Poetry Today series and presents once again an exciting array of the very best from Turkey’s rich poetic culture and heritage. “Trying as always to break new ground, we invite you in this issue to accompany us on a journey through Turkish poetry that will include many voices never before heard in English translation…ˮ from The Editors’ Introduction Presented here in this edition’s Featured Poet section is Gülten Akɪn, whose intellect and writing have made her “the greatest living Turkish poet” according to a majority of Turkey’s leading poets, writers and critics. Selections from the work of nearly twenty other Turkish poets in original translations alongside biographical notes make this a superb introduction for readers new to Turkish poetry or a further treasure chest for those who have come to appreciate how rich a vein of poetry there is to explore. “Turkish Poetry Today brings us the unique flow, imagery and timbre of Turkish poetry, with translations that enable the works to sing for us in English. Truly memorable reading.ˮ Dr. Robyn Rowland, poet BUY NOW
In a new format Turkish Poetry Today 2016 offers the very best of modern Turkish Poetry to English readers. New features introduced in the 2016 edition include a Featured Poet Section, with an extensive selection of the work of Behçet Necatigil (1916-1979), and a section devoted to essays and reviews, including a translation of the famous Garip Manifesto, written by Orhan Veli Kanik in 1941, accompanied by a selection of poems by the Garip poets Veli, Oktay Rifat and Melih Cervet Anday. Also included are poems spanning the modern era of Turkish poetry, from the work of Ahmet Haşim and Nazim Hikmet to that of the generation of poets writing now, including Lale Mὔldur, Asuman Susa and Gökçenur Ç. Edited by Mel Kenne, Saliha Paker and Idil Karacadağ this edition really does take the initial energy, joy and insight into the full range of Turkish poetry of the earlier editions to another level.
The third issue of this unique journal dedicated to modern and contemporary Turkish poetry in translation. Turkish Poetry Today features many of most exciting poets writing in Turkish today, selected and translated by leading translators from around the world. With translations and originals side-by-side, Turkish Poetry Today 2015 includes extensive new work by Haydar Ergülen translated by İdil Karacadağ, Küçük İskender translated by Caroline Stockford, as well as poetry from Elif Sezen, Gökçenur Çelebioğlu, and Müesser Yeniay, and artwork by Şenol Bezci. BUY NOW
The second issue of this unique journal dedicated to modern and contemporary Turkish poetry in translation. Turkish Poetry Today features many of most exciting poets writing in Turkish today, selected and translated by leading translators from around the world. With translations and originals side-by-side, Issue Two includes extensive new work by Güven Turan translated by Ruth Christie, Sami Baydar translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat, as well as poetry from Lâle Müldür, Bedri Rahmi Eyuboğlu, Melih Cevdet Anday, and Asaf Hâlet Çelebi BUY NOW
A unique journal dedicated to modern and contemporary Turkish poetry in translation. Turkish Poetry Today features many of most exciting poets writing in Turkish today, selected and translated by leading translators from around the world. With translations and originals side-by-side, Issue One includes extensive new work by Bejan Matur translated by Ruth Christie and Selcuk Berilgen, Zeynep Koylu translated by Mel Kenne and Idil Karacadag, as well as poetry from Onat Polat, Necmi Zeka, Melih Cevdet Anday, and Murathan Mungan. BUY NOW