Gülten Akın (23 January 1933 – 4 November 2015) was a Turkish poet. Her poetry is considered to be culturally significant to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Akin was born in 1933 in

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Beşiktaş Atatürk Anatolian High School and graduated from Ankara University Law School in 1955. She married her husband Yaşar Cankoçak in 1956, with whom she had five children. Because of her husband's position as the governor of various provincial districts in Turkey, she moved around several provinces of Turkey, working as a lawyer, assistant lawyer and teacher in many of them. In 1972, Akın and her family settled in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, where she worked at the

Turkish Language Association The Turkish Language Association (, TDK) is the List of language regulators, regulatory body for the Turkish language, founded on 12 July 1932 by the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. The Institution acts as ...

, the regulatory body of the Turkish language, and became a member of the Editorial Team at the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

. She worked for the reestablishment of free and democratic

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s. She served as a founder and/or manager at several such Turkish organizations, such as the Human Rights Association,

Halkevleri Halkevleri (Turkish: ''Halkevi'' literally meaning "people's houses", also translatable as "community centres") is a Turkish community enlightenment project. They were founded in 1932 and entirely abolished in 1951. Background The Turkish Repub ...

(community centers) and the Language Association (Dil Derneği). Akın's first published poem appeared in the newspaper ''Son Haber'' in 1951. She subsequently appeared in several magazines, such as ', '' Varlık'', '' Yeditepe'', ''Türk Dili'' and ''Mülkiye''. While her early poems were about nature, love, separation, and yearning, her later poems were dominated by social issues. Her poems are inspired a great deal by

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

. In the compilation book of her analytical writings on poetry, ''Şiiri Düzde Kuşatmak'' ("Surrounding Poetry with Simplicity"), Akın expressed her desire to get down to the level of the general populace in her poems, saying that she wanted to "put into words and writing the already-existing essence and form that exists among the people, and while promoting the poem, promoting the improvement of the lives and lifestyles of the people." Her poems have been translated into many languages, and more than 40 of her poems have been composed into songs. One of these songs is the 1993 "Deli Kızın Türküsü" (English: ''Crazy Girl's Ballad'') by

Sezen Aksu Sezen Aksu (; born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and producer. She is one of the most successful Turkish people, Turkish singers, having sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Q ...

, which was also the title of the album it appeared on. Akın also authored short plays.

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

named her as having been the most influential Turkish poet since Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca.

Poetic works

* Rüzgar Saati (Hour of the Wind) (1956) * Kestim Kara Saçlarımı (I Cut My Black Hair) (1960) * Sığda (In the Shallow) (1964) * Kırmızı Karanfil (Red Clove) (1971) * Maraş'ın ve Ökkeş'in Destanı (The Epic of Maraş and Ökkeş) (1972) * Ağıtlar ve Türküler (Laments and Odes) (1976) * Seyran Destanı (Epic of Seyran) (1979) * İlahiler (Hymns) (1983) * Sevda Kalıcıdır (Love Stays Forever) (1991) * Sonra İşte Yaşlandım (Then I Aged) (1995) * Sessiz Arka Bahçeler (Silent Back Gardens) (1998) * Uzak Bir Kıyıda (On A Far Coast) (2003)

Poems turned into songs

* Büyü Yavrum: **by

Grup Yorum Grup Yorum is a band from Turkey known for their political songwriting. Grup Yorum (''yorum'' means 'rendition' of a piece of art or music, 'interpretation' or 'commentary' in Turkish) has released twenty-three albums and one film since 1985. So ...

, 1987 **by

Edip Akbayram Ahmet Edip Akbayram (29 December 1950 – 2 March 2025) was a Turkish musician. Life and career Akbayram was born in Gaziantep on 29 December 1950. He was diagnosed with polio when he was nine months old. Edip Akbayram, who spent his childhood ...

and Kemal Sahir Gürel, 1988 * Deli Kızın Türküsü: **by

, 1993

Awards

Akın has received many awards; some of them are: * 1955 - Varlık poetry contest, 1st place * 1964 -

poetry contest * 1972 -

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish: ) is the national public broadcasting, public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio broadcaster in Turkey. Before the introductio ...

Artistic Awards Contest, Achievement Award * 1976 - Yeditepe (magazine) poetry award * 1991 - Award * 1992 -

Sedat Simavi Literature Award The Sedat Simavi Literature Prize is a Turkish literary award presented annually. It was established in 1977 by Sedat Simavi Foundation, in memory of author and journalist, Sedat Simavi. The prize is given also in nine different areas in sport, TV ...

* 1999 - * 2003 -

Dünya (newspaper) ''Dünya'' () is a Turkish newspaper founded in 1981 by , who was also its editor-in-chief in his lifetime. The newspaper covers mainly business news and has a circulation of around 55,000. Columnists * Mete Akyol * Güngör Uras References ...

Book of the Year Award * 2008 -

Erdal Öz Literature Award The Erdal Öz Prize is a Turkish literary award presented annually. It was established in 2008 by Can Publisher, in memory of author and founder of Can Publisher, Erdal Öz. The winner receives 15,000 Turkish liras, approximately US $500. Award ...

References

External links

author page
at Lyrikline.org, with audio, Turkish text, and translation into German. {{DEFAULTSORT:Akin, Gulten 1933 births 2015 deaths People from Yozgat 20th-century Turkish poets Turkish women poets 20th-century Turkish women writers 21st-century Turkish women writers 21st-century Turkish poets