Efe Murad is a Turkish poet, translator, and historian.

Biography

Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Efe Murad studied philosophy at Princeton University and completed his PhD in Ottoman History and Arabic Philosophy at Harvard University. Together with Cem Kurtuluş, he wrote the Matter-Poetry Manifesto in 2004. During his senior year at

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

, he received the gold medal in the

International Philosophy Olympiad The International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO) is an annual philosophy competition for high school students from around the world, one of the International Science Olympiads. It is organized under the auspices of the International Federation of Ph ...

, which was organized in

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

, Italy in 2006. He is the author of six books of poetry and the translator of ten more, including the first complete translation of

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

’s ''Cantos'' into Turkish; volumes by the American poets

Susan Howe Susan Howe (born June 10, 1937) is an American poet, scholar, essayist, and critic, who has been closely associated with the Language poets, among other poetry movements.

Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian ( ; May 17, 1941 – February 24, 2024) was an American poet, essayist, translator, and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon (publisher), Sun & Moon, 198 ...

, and C. K. Williams, the German author

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

, as well as the Iranian poets Mahmoud Mosharraf Azad Tehrani and Fereydoon Moshiri. Together with the American poet and translator

Sidney Wade Sidney Wade (born 1951) is an American poet. She currently holds the position of professor of creative writing at the University of Florida, where she has taught since 1993. Biography Wade was born in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1951. She attende ...

, he co-translated a collection of poems by the Turkish modernist

Melih Cevdet Anday Melih Cevdet Anday (13 March 1915 – 28 November 2002) was a Turkish people, Turkish writer whose poetry stands outside the traditional literary movements. He also wrote in many other genres which, over six and a half decades, included eleven ...

under the title ''Silent Stones'' (Talisman Press, 2017), which was awarded "the Meral Divitçi Prize for Turkish Poetry in Translation." His poems, writings and translations in English have appeared in a wide range of journals including ''The American Reader'', ''Five Points'', ''Denver Quarterly'', ''Guernica'', ''Critical Flame'', ''Turkish Poetry Today'', ''Poet Lore'', ''Asymptote'', ''Jacket2'', and ''Two Lines'', and exhibitions including the 13th Istanbul Biennial. In 2021, he published a volume of memoiristic essays, ''The Pleasures of Empty Lots'', which concerns the culture of flaneurship and the rise of authoritarianism in his hometown

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. His bilingual book of poetry, ''Breaking of Symmetry/Simetrinin Kırılması'', a collaboration with the Harvard University quantum physics researcher Dr. Sina Zeytinoğlu and poet-artist Sevinç Çalhanoğlu came out in a special edition of 400, funded by the European Union Grant Scheme for Common Cultural Heritage, as well as Turkey’s Aşina Project. According to the description included in the book, Murad recorded various conversations with Dr. Zeytinoğlu about his research on

symmetry breaking In physics, symmetry breaking is a phenomenon where a disordered but Symmetry in quantum mechanics, symmetric state collapses into an ordered, but less symmetric state. This collapse is often one of many possible Bifurcation theory, bifurcatio ...

s and

phase transition In physics, chemistry, and other related fields like biology, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic Sta ...

s. Having transcribed these recorded conversations, Murad chiseled Dr. Zeytinoğlu’s words into poetry by mixing them with corresponding contexts in Islamic philosophy and Sufism. A scholar of Ottoman history and Islamic philosophy, he taught history, religion, and writing at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

for four years, and he is currently serving as a faculty fellow in Islamic history at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

’s Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. His ongoing practice melds paleography, found footage, soundscapes, and mystical experience in poetry. ''An Organ of Quality'', a cycle of poems will be published by Bored Wolves Press in 2024.

Books in English

* ''Verifying the Truth on Their Own Terms Ottoman Philosophical Culture and the Court Debate Between Zeyrek (d. 903/1497-98 and Ḫocazāde (d. 893/1488)'' (Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2023) . * ''The Pleasures of Empty Lots'' (Bored Wolves Press, 2021) . * ''Silent Stones'', co-trans. w/

(Talisman House, 2017) . * ''Breaking of Symmetry/Simetrinin Kırılması'', in collaboration w/ Sina Zeytinoğlu, Sevinç Çalhanoğlu, and translator Fahri Öz (European Union Grant Scheme for Common Cultural Heritage, 2022) .

Poems in English Translation

* "Encirclings" (trans. Murat Nemet-Nejat from "An Organ of Quality") published in an anthology of Mediterranean poets ''Circle Surface Sun: From Somewhere in the Mediterranean'', eds. Irena Eden & Stijn Lernout (Schlebrügge.Editor, 2020) .

References

External links

* A survey of contemporary experimental poetry in Turkey "Visuality, Non-Agency, and Found Footage in ''heves'': New Trends in Contemporary Turkish Poetry (2003-2010)" published by ''elit: Literaturhaus Europa'

* Poems in English in ''Jacket2'',
Jacket 34 - October 2007 - Murat Nemet-Nejat: A Godless Sufism: Selections from «Eda: A Contemporary Anthology of 20th Century Turkish Poetry», Murat Nemet-Nejat, Ed.
* On "The Materialist Poem"in ''Jacket2'
Jacket 34 - October 2007 - Murat Nemet-Nejat: A Godless Sufism: Essays on, including selected translations from, «Eda: «Eda: A Contemporary Anthology of 20th Century Turkish Poetry», Murat Nemet-Nejat, Ed.
*"A poem in the manner of Karacaoglan", translations by

and Efe Murad in ''Asymptote'
sections 1 and 4

sections 6-8
* "Streets of Istanbul," a poetry performance along with Irina Baldini and Çağlar Köseoğlu, Winternachten Literature Festival in the Hague 201

* "Book of My Life," an interview at the Winternachten Literature Festival in the Hague 2018

* "Fraternité! The Forgotten Value of Brotherhood," along with David Van Reybrouck and Fatma Aydemir, Winternachten Literature Festival in the Hague 201

*"Voice", a translation by

and Efe Murad in ''Guernica'
Voice
* "Garip: A Turkish Poetry Manifesto", a translation by

and Efe Murad in ''Critical Flame'
''The Critical Flame''
* A Word's Autobiography on

Seyhan Erözçelik Seyhan Erözçelik (13 March 1962 – 24 August 2011) was a Turkish people, Turkish poet. Biography He was born in 1962 in Bartın, Turkey, a town in the Black Sea region. He studied psychology at Boğazici University and Oriental languages at Is ...

in ''Jacket2''
A word's autobiography , Jacket2
* "Silent Stones: Selected Poems of Melih Cevdet Anday"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murad, Efe 1987 births Writers from Istanbul Turkish poets 21st-century poets Living people Princeton University alumni Harvard University alumni Wellesley College faculty