Özdemir Asaf

Özdemir Asaf (11 June 1923, Ankara – 28 January 1981, Istanbul) was one of the prominent Turkish poets during the early Republican period.^[1]

Özdemir Asaf
Statue of Asaf by Namık Denizhan in the Şairler Sofası Park
Born	Halit Özdemir Arun (1923-06-11)June 11, 1923 Ankara, Turkey
Died	January 28, 1981(1981-01-28) (aged 57) Istanbul
Occupation	Writer, poet
Language	Turkish
Nationality	Turkey
Education	Galatasaray High School Kabataş High School Istanbul University
Spouses	Sabahat Selma Tezakın Yıldız Moran (e. 1962–1981)
Children	Seda Arun Gün Arun Olgun Arun Etkin Arun
Relatives	Mehmet Asaf (father)

Biography

Life

He was born on 11 June 1923 in Ankara. His real name is Halit Özdemir Arun. His father, Mehmet Asaf, is one of the founders of the Council of State.^[2] In 1930, the year his father died, he entered the first part of Galatasaray High School.^[3] In 1941, in the 11th grade, he went to Kabataş High School for Boys with an additional exam and graduated in 1942. He attended the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Economics (until the 3rd grade), and the Faculty of Journalism for one year. Meanwhile, he worked for Tanin and Zaman newspapers and made translations.^[4]

Career

His first article published in Servet-i Fünun (Uyanış) magazine. He is founder of Sanat Basımevi (1951) and published his books under the name of Yuvarlak Masa Yayınları. He became one of the founders of the Temel Hakları Yaşatma Derneği (Fundamental Rights Survival Association), which was founded in 1962 under the leadership of Mehmet Ali Aybar.^[5]

Together with Attila İlhan, he was the most loved poet of the literary matinees, which was the favorite activity of the 1950s.^[5] Özdemir Asaf, who visited the coastal cities of the Atlantic and the east of America in 1954, traveled almost all of Europe, starting from Lapland in 1959. In 1966, at the invitation of the Macedonian Writer's Union, he went to Yugoslavia and participated in the poetry congress.^[2]

Bibliography

Poems Dünya Kaçtı Gözüme – 1955 Sen Sen Sen – 1956 Bir Kapı Önünde – 1957 Yumuşaklıklar Değil – 1962 Nasılsın – 1970 Çiçekleri Yemeyin – 1975 Ben Değildim – 1978 Bugün ve Bugün (Yayımlanmamış şiirler) – 1984 Benden Sonra Mutluluk (Yayımlanmamış şiirler) Çiçek Senfonisi (Toplu şiirler) – 2008 Sen Bana Bakma, Ben Senin Baktığın Yönde Olurum – 2012 Yalnızlığa Övgü (Yalnızlık Paylaşılmaz) Lavinia

Ethica Yuvarlağın Köşeleri – 1961 Yuvarlağın Köşeleri-2 – 1988 Story Dün Yağmur Yağacak – 1987 Essay Özdemir Asaf'ça – 1988 Translations Reading Zindanı Baladı (Oscar Wilde) – 1968 Seçme Şiirler[6]