Ahmet Ümit
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ahmet Ümit (born 1960) is a Turkish author and poet. He is best known for his crime novels.


Early years

Ahmet Ümit was born in
Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...
, in south-central Turkey, in 1960. His father was a
kilim A kilim ( az, Kilim کیلیم; tr, Kilim; tm, Kilim; fa, گلیم ''Gilīm'') is a flat tapestry-woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran, the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kili ...
merchant and his mother a tailor. He was the youngest of the seven siblings. He finished his primary and middle school in his hometown. Ümit attended the Atatürk High School, however, finished it in
Ergani Ergani ( ota, عثمانيه, translit=Osmaniye, ku, Erxenî), formerly known as Arghni or Arghana, is a district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. The district's area is 1489 km. Ergani District is located in the administrative as the Sout ...
,
Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
. In 1979, he went to
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
to study Public Administration at
Marmara University Marmara University ( Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is named after the Sea of Marmara and was founded as a university in 1982. However, it was created in 1883 under the name of ''H ...
. He met his future wife Vildan during the university years, and married in 1981. They have a daughter Gül. Ümit became a member of a leftist organization, which struggled against the military regime in Turkey. He took active part in the "No to the New Constitution" campaign against the constitutional referendum of 1982 following the 1980 coup d'état. He wrote a report about the police operation, at which his comrades were arrested after attaching protest posters on building walls. The report, in reality a short story, was published in ''
Problems of Peace and Socialism ''Problems of Peace and Socialism'' (September 1958–June 1990, Russian: ''Проблемы мира и социализма)'', also commonly known as ''World Marxist Review'' (WMR), the name of its English-language edition, was a monthly theore ...
'', a journal of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...
in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, then
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. His first story was so published in 40 languages. In 1983, he graduated from the university. He entered the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP). In 1985, he was sent on scholarship to
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
by the party. He studied at the Social Sciences of the Russian Academy. In 1986, he returned home.


Writing career

Ümit started writing poems during his stay in Moscow. His 1998-novel ''Kar Kokusu'' ("Odor of Snow") shows traces of his experience in that period. In 1989, he left politics, and published his poems in ''Sokağın Zulası'' ("Stash of the Street"). During this time he worked in an
advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
of his friend. In 1990, he co-founded a cultural-art periodical titled ''Yine Hişt'' ("Look here again!"). He published his poems, stories and writings in the periodicals ''Yine Hişt'', ''Adam Sanat'', ''Öküz'', ''Cumhuriyet'' and the newspaper ''
Yeni Yüzyıl ''Yeni Yüzyıl'' (''New Century'') was a Turkish newspaper. It was published from 1994 to 1999, closing down due to legal and financial problems. It had been acquired in August 1998 from Dinç Bilgin's Sabah group by Korkmaz Yiğit Korkmaz Yiğ ...
''. His 1992-published first story book ''Çıplak Ayaklıydı Gece'' ("Barefoot Night") was awarded the "Ferit Oğuz Bayır Thought and Art Prize" the same year. He contributed to the screenplay of the
television serial In television and radio programming, a serial is a show that has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the complete run of ...
of
police drama The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
''Çakalların İzinde'' ("Tracing the Jackals") aired by ATV in 1993. Ümit wrote essays about
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...
(1883–1924),
Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
(1821–1881),
Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novel ...
(1921–1995),
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
(1809–1949) and some other
detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
authors in various dailies and periodicals in 1995. The TV serials ''Karanlıkta Koşanlar'' ("Runners in the Darkness") by
Uğur Yücal Uğur is a common masculine Turkish and Azerbaijani given name. In both Turkish and Azerbaijani, the word "uğur" means "luck". Given name * Uğur Albayrak (born 1988), Turkish footballer * Uğur Boral (born 1982), Turkish footballer * Uğur ...
and ''Şeytan Ayrıntıda Gizlidir'' ("
The devil is in the detail "The devil is in the details" is an idiom alluding to a catch or mysterious element hidden in the details; it indicates that "something may seem simple, but in fact the details are complicated and likely to cause problems". It comes from the earlie ...
") by Cevdet Mercan based on his short stories. His novel ''Sis ve Gece'' ("Fog and Night") was adapted to a
movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
by Turgut Yasalar in 2007. Ümit produced and presented a programme for
Habertürk TV Habertürk TV is a Turkish nationwide TV channel established in 2001 by Turkish journalist Ufuk Güldemir. It is owned by the Ciner Media Group (since 2007). In 2009 Ciner created the ''Habertürk'' newspaper, drawing on Habertürk TV's brand. ...
titled ''Yaşadığın Şehir'' ("The City, where I Live") in 2010. He is a member of the advisory board of
Okan University Istanbul Okan University is a private university in Istanbul, Turkey. History The university was founded by Okan Culture, Education, and Sports Foundation in 1999 and began its academic life in 2003–2004. Since the 2006–2007 academic year, ...
.


Bibliography

His works: * * ''Çıplak Ayaklıydı Gece'' (1992) * ''Bir Ses Böler Geceyi'' (1994) * ''Masal Masal İçinde'' (1995) * ''Sis ve Gece'' (1996) * * * ''Patasana'' (2000) * * * * * ''Başkomser Nevzat, Çiçekçinin Ölümü'' (2005) * * * ''İnsan Ruhunun Haritası'' (2007) * ''Olmayan Ülke'' (2008) * * ''İstanbul Hatırası'' (2010) * ''Sultanı Öldürmek'' (2012) * ''Beyoğlu'nun En Güzel Abisi'' (2013) * *


Comics

* * *


Translated books

; In English * * * * ; In German * * * ; In Polish *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umit, Ahmet Living people 1960 births People from Gaziantep Marmara University alumni Turkish male poets Turkish male writers Turkish crime fiction writers Detective fiction writers