Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca was one the most prolific Turkish

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 poets of the republican Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 with more than 60 collections of his poems published as of 2007, laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings

Struga Poetry Evenings

Struga Poetry Evenings is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, Republic of Macedonia. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most prestigious award, the Golden Wreath, to some of the most notable international poets, including: Mahmoud...

 Golden Wreath Award .

Biography

His purist use of the Turkish language

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 brought a new dimension to contemporary Turkish literature

Turkish literature

Turkish literature comprises both oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language, either in its Ottoman form or in less exclusively literary forms, such as that spoken in the Republic of Turkey today...

. His poems treat themes such as the prehistory of mankind and the cosmos, but also antimilitarist themes and the Turkish War of Independence

Turkish War of Independence

The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...

.

A selection of his poems have been translated into English by Talat Sait Halman (Selected Poems, Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press

University of Pittsburgh Press

The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States....

, 1969).

Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca died on October 16, 2008 in İstanbul. He was laid to rest at the Karacaahmet Cemetery

Karacaahmet Cemetery

The Karacaahmet Cemetery , located in Üsküdar district, is the oldest in Istanbul and, at , the largest burial ground in Turkey.The cemetery was named after a warrior companion of Orhan I, the second Ottoman sultan and is believed to have been founded in the mid-14th century...

 on October 20, 2008 following a funeral ceremony held in the Süreyya Opera House

Süreyya Opera House

Süreyya Opera House, also called Süreyya Cultural Center , is an opera hall located in Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. The building is designed by architect Kegam Kavafyan by order of a Deputy for Istanbul Süreyya İlmen, it was originally established in 1927 as the first musical theatre on...

that was attended by politicians and high-ranked officers.

Sources

• Ahmet Necdet, Modern Türk Şiiri Yönelimler, Tanıklıklar, Örnekler, Broy Yayınevi, October 1993.
• Biyografi.net - Biography of Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca
• Siirdostu.com - Biography and Poetry of Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca
• Ahmet Soysal, "Arzu ve Varlık, Dağlarca'ya Bakışlar", Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1999 (2nd edition: 2007)
• Ahmet Soysal, "Eşsiz Olana Yakınlık", Kanat Yayınları (2006)