Turkish Poetry Fest
Embark on a journey into Turkish poetry as we shine a spotlight on the works of esteemed poets Seving Çalhanoglu, Firat Demir, and also on Arkadas Z. Özger whose poetry is translated and will be presented by Nick Glastonbury. Through eloquent recitation, insightful discussion, and compelling performances, we invite you to delve into the intricate tapestry of Turkish poetry. Whether you are a seasoned connoisseur or a newcomer with a burgeoning interest, this event offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the refined artistry of poetry and its interplay with language, culture, and politics. The readings will deal with the themes of feminism, human rights, memory, and belonging among others.
In-person registration: Link
Sevinç Çalhanoğlu’s Reading Title: “Two Absences”
Sevinç Çalhanoğlu (b. 1988, Istanbul) is a poet, artist, and researcher. Shaped by memories of space and childhood, her work reflects themes of belonging, grief, and spiritual beliefs. Incorporating visual elements and experimental writing, Sevinç has exhibited her interdisciplinary literary works and participated in solo and collaborative readings in various places. Alongside her Turkish poetry volumes, she has publications in English, including ‘A Promenade at Home’ (Bored Wolves, 2021) and ‘My Life in Curves Recently’ (Bored Wolves, 2020). She is the founding editor of Moero, an online poetry journal based in Turkey, and currently resides in Brooklyn.
Fırat Demir’s Reading Title: “National Anthems for Bandits”
Fırat Demir (Istanbul, 1991) is a Kurdish poet and author with two books of poetry published in Turkish, Yeni Cüret Çağı (2012) and Öte Geçeler (2015). Critics described Demir’s work as “queer guerrilla poetry” that proclaimed a bold and diverse political poetic discourse and applauded Demir’s unique conception of aesthetic, morality and subjectivity. By offering an interrogation of the Kurdish identity as a borderless space of resistance and joy, Demir subverted ideological and historical cliches and displacing those with, punk vulnerabilities, strange linguistic and semantic arrangements, Rimbaud-like demonic anger, and détournement tactics. Demir has been living in New York since 2014, where he completed his B.A. in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Demir was a recent fellow of the Santa Maddalena Foundation for Writers in Tuscany, Italy. His working manuscript Beyhude Kombat has recently been translated into English by Ahmet Ergenç, the Turkish translator of William S. Burroughs’s The Wild Boys, Chuck Palahniuk’s Stranger Than Fiction, and others.
Nick Glastonbury’s Reading Title: “Selections from Tragedy of a Beardless Boy by Arkadaş Zekâi Özger”.
Nicholas Glastonbury is a translator of Turkish and Kurdish literature. His translation of Sema Kaygusuz’s novel Every Fire You Tend received the 2020 TA First Translation Prize from the Society of Authors. He has translations forthcoming from Soho Press, Nightboat Books, and elsewhere. He has a PhD in cultural anthropology and is currently a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Cultural Analysis at Rutgers University.