Mehmet Yaşın’ın biyografi ve bibliyografyası | TR-GR-EN

MEHMET YAŞIN’IN BİYOGRAFİ VE BİBLİYOGRAFYASI

Η ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ ΚΑΙ Η ΒΙΒΛΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΜΕΧΜΕΤ ΓΙΑΣΙΝ

MEHMET YASHIN’S BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

Türkçe, Ελληνικά, English 

Hazırlayanlar / επεξεργάστηκε από / edited by 

Anber Onar,  Evagoras Vanezis, Panayiotis Michael, Johann Pillai

Mehmet Yaşın, çağdaş Türkçe şiirin özgün şairlerinden biri olmak yanında,  uluslararası ölçekte kabul gören Kıbrıslı şair ve yazarlardan da biridir. Şiirleri, romanları ve denemeleri Türkiye ile Kıbrıs dışında Yunanistan ve Avrupa edebiyatlarına da ait sayılmaktadır. Bütün Kıbrıs şiir ve edebiyatında yeni bir dönem açılmasına öncülük eden 1974-Sonrası şiirleri ve edebiyat çalışmaları, Ada’nın iki tarafında olduğu kadar dış dünyada da inceleme konusu olmaktadır. Türkçe şiire getirdiği farklı ses ve duyarlık, melez edebiyat ve dil kaynaklarına, Akdeniz’in Türk ve Yunan kültürlerini harmanlamasına, dramatik ve anlatımcı bir lirizm yaratmasına, Türkçeyi ise tarihsel ve coğrafi anlamda çoğul biçimde kullanmasına dayanır. Ayrıca, kişisel deneyimleri önemseyen hem ender hem çok boyutlu şiirsel izleklerinden hareketle daha genel felsefi ve toplumsal söylemlere varışıyla dikkat çekmektedir.

Çocukluk dönemi boyunca süregiden Kıbrıs’taki toplumlararası çatışmaların derinden etkilediği, birçok yazar, eğitimci ve basın mensubu yetiştirmiş Lefkoşalı kozmopolit bir aileden doğdu. Öğretmen olan annesi Ayşe İpçizâde’nin ailesinde Osmanlı divan şairleri arasında yer almış Müftü’ler, Fransızca ve İngilizce yazmış Katolik şair ve yazarlar olduğu gibi, Kıbrıslıtürk toplumsal kimliğinin oluşumunda rol oynayan gazetelerin yayıncıları da bulunuyordu. İlk ve ortaöğrenim dönemini İstanbul’da geçiren babası Özker Yaşın ise, amcaları eğitim müfettişi olan Kıbrıslıtürklerin ilk ulusal şairi ve yazarı sayılıyordu. Her ikisi de bu biçimde edebiyat ve kültürle ilişkili olan anne ve babası o doğmadan ayrıldılar. 

1963 Kanlı Noeli’nde, Neapolis’teki (Yenişehir) evlerinin aşırı Yunan milliyetçileri tarafından yakılması ve kimi aile mensuplarının öldürülmesi veya savaş esiri olması, Lefke öğretmen lojmanlarında uzun bir göçmenlik hayatına yol açtı. Bahçelerinin savaş ölüleri için mezarlığa dönüştürüldüğü, karınlarını ancak BM yardımlarıyla doyurabildikleri yoksulluk, sürekli hastalanma ve silahlı çatışmayla dolu günler geçirdi. Yaşama sevinciyle coşan “Olsam” adlı ilk şiirini 10-11 yaşlarındayken Lefke’de yaşadıkları bu ortamda yazdı. Okul dergisinde yayımlanan ve ödüllendirilen bu şiirden sonra 1970’li yılları bir şair ve yazar olabilmek için okumak, yazmaya çalışmak ve kendini eğitmekle geçirdi. 

1976’da Türkiye’ye giderek Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi’nin Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü’nü bitirdi. İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü’nde siyasal tarih mastırı yaptı. İlk şiir kitabı Sevgilim Ölü Asker (1984), İstanbul’da 1985 Akademi Şiir Ödülü ve A. Kadir Şiir Ödülü kazandı. Ancak zamanın askeri cunta yönetimi tarafından toplatıldı ve 1986’da, özellikle Kıbrıs’taki savaşlara karşı yazdıkları nedeniyle “Türk milli menfaatlerine zararlı ecnebi” ilan edilip Türkiye’den sınırdışı edildi. Yasaklamalara rağmen tekrar basımlar yapan ilk şiir kitabı gibi ikincisi de İstanbul’da tutuklandığı aynı yıl yayımlandı. Kuzey Kıbrıs’a gönderilince karşılaştığı itibarsızlaştırma ve linç kampanyaları nedeniyle İngiltere’ye gitti. 1989’da Birmingham Üniversitesi’nden aldığı bursla Sanatlar Fakültesi’ne bağlı Bizans-Osmanlı ve Modern Yunan İncelemeleri Merkezi’nde, çok-dilli Kıbrıs şiir tarihi ve kimlik dönüşümleri üstüne yükseklisansa başladı. 

Akademik çalışmasını Londra Middlesex Üniversitesi’nde tamamlayıp doktora derecesi aldı. Kısa bir süre Atina Üniversitesi’nde Yunan dili ve edebiyatı dersleri izledi. 1993’de, hakkındaki sınırdışı kararı kaldırılınca İstanbul’a döndü. Yeni şiir kitapları yanında, Cevdet Kudret Roman Ödülü kazanan ilk romanı Soydaşınız Balık Burcu’nu (1994) yayımladı. Türkiye şiir kanonundaki kurumsal milliyetçilik ile anakronistik anlayışı eleşitirmekle tartışmaya yol açan yazı dizisi ve kitabı Poeturka ise 1995’te yayımlandı. Bir yıl sonra yeniden Londra’ya gitti. İngiltere, Türkiye ve Kıbrıs’ın iki yanındaki üniversitelerde karşılaştırmalı edebiyat, çeviri incelemeleri, Kıbrıs incelemeleri ve çağdaş Türk şiiri ve edebiyatı dersleri verdi. 2002’den 2016’ya dek Cambridge, Lefkoşa ve İstanbul arasında bir hayat kuran Mehmet Yaşın, 2017’den beri Atina, Londra ve Lefkoşa arasında yaşıyor.

Şiirleri 1973’ten başlayarak Kıbrıslıtürk gazetelerinde, 1977 itibarıyla Kıbrıslırum gazetelerinde ve 1979’da Türkiye edebiyat dergilerinde, 1980’lerde ise Yunanistan, İngiltere ve diğer Avrupa ülkelerinde yayınlandı. 24 dile çevrildi, 43 ülkeye ulaştı ve 11 ülkede kitap olarak yayımlandı. Kıbrıslı müzisyenler tarafından bestelendi, sahneye kondu, görsel sanatlara uyarlandı. Kendisi de müzik, sinema ve tiyatro gruplarıyla ortak çalışmalar yaptı. Disiplinler arası sanat çalışmalarını özellikle şiir-enstelasyonlarıyla sürdürdü ve işleri, Kıbrıs yanında Fransa, Portekiz, Brezilya, Lübnan, Rusya gibi ülkelerde sergilendi, Belçika’da müzeye alındı. 

1980-Sonrası Türk şiirinde, farklı çizgideki şiirlerinin yanı sıra, farklı bir edebiyat anlayışını yansıtan edebiyat inceleme ve eleştiri yazılarıyla da etkin oldu. Diller ve Kültürler Arası Bir Edebiyat İncelemesi: Kıbrıs Şiiri’nin 3000 Yılı başlığını taşıyan antolojik ve akademik inceleme kitabı 2005’te Memet Fuat Edebiyat İnceleme ve Eleştiri Ödülü ve Bilgi Üniversitesi Ödülü’nü kazandı. İstanbul yanında Londra’da 1989 itibarıyla konferanslara, ortak yayınlara öncülük etti. Step-Mothertongue: From Natinalism to Multiculturalism – Literatures of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey (2000) adlı kitabıyla, Türkçe ve Yunanca edebiyatları günümüzün edebiyat teorisi içinde karşılaştırmalı olarak ele alan yayımı gerçekleşitirdi. “Üveyanadil, merkez-çevre kuramı, Türkçe az(ın)lık edebiyatı” gibi kavram ve yaklaşımları geliştirdi. Şiirleri yanında, romanları, deneme ve incelemeleriyle de oluşturduğu bütünlüklü bir edebiyatçı kimliğiyle şiir, yazın ve kültür hayatında dönüştürücü bir rol oynadı.

Cambridge Üniversitesi’nde sosyal antropoloji profesörü Yael Navaro ile 20 yıllık evliliğinin bitmesini takiben Mehmet Yaşın’ın yaşayan tek ailesi, yeni nesil Britanyalı ve Kıbrıslı görsel sanatçılar arasında anılan kızı Ayşe-Mira Yaşın’dır. Geleneksel aile kurumunu aşkın biçimde eserlerine de yansımış bir yaklaşımla sürdürdüğü kişisel hayatını öteden beri yalıtılmışlık tercihi üzerine kurarken, kalabalıklarla temasını sağlayan esasen kitaplarıdır. 11 şiir kitabı, 4 romanı, 6 deneme, söyleşiler, antolojik araştırma ve edebiyat incelemesi bulunmaktadır. Bugüne dek Kıbrıs’ta hiçbir dildeki basın organına ropörtaj vermeyen ve hiçbir tarafın kurumlarından ödül kabul etmeyen Mehmet Yaşın, savaşlarlavarlığı ortadan kaldırılmış eski kozmopolit Kıbrıslı toplumun son temsilcilerinden biri sayıldığı kadar, gelecekteki çoğul kimlikli toplumların da habercisidir. Ulusal, etnik, dinsel, cinsiyet ve kültürel anlamlardaki tekil kimlik ve aidiyet tarifleri ötesindeki bir yaklaşımla kaleme aldığı şiirleri ile diğer edebiyat eserlerinin dayanağı büyük ölçüde kendi seçimleriyle şekil bulmuş hayat hikâyesindedir.

---

Ο Μεχμέτ Γιασίν είναι μια μοναδική μορφή της σύγχρονης τουρκόφωνης ποίησης (όρο που καθιέρωσε εν πολλοίς ο ίδιος) και ένας διεθνώς καταξιωμένος Κύπριος συγγραφέας και ποιητής. Τα ποιήματα, μυθιστορήματα και δοκίμια του θεωρούνται όχι μόνο μέρος της κυπριακής και της τουρκικής λογοτεχνίας, αλλά και της ελληνικής και της ευρωπαϊκής. Μετά το 1974, τα έργα του Γιασίν έφεραν μια νέα εποχή στη λογοτεχνία της Κύπρου και σύντομα έγιναν αντικείμενο μελέτης και στον υπόλοιπο κόσμο. Η ποιητική φωνή και ευαισθησία που προσδίδει στην τουρκική γλώσσα προέρχεται από τις υβριδικές λογοτεχνικές πηγές του, οι οποίες φέρνουν σε επαφή τον τουρκικό και τον ελληνικό πολιτισμό της Μεσογείου, δημιουργώντας ένα ιδιαίτερο δραματικό και αφηγηματικό λυρικό ιδίωμα. Χρησιμοποιώντας ιστορικά και γεωγραφικά επηρεασμένες μορφές της τουρκικής γλώσσας και μέσα από τη πολυδιάστατη θεματολογία του, συνδυάζει προσωπικές εμπειρίες με γενικότερους φιλοσοφικούς και κοινωνικούς προβληματισμούς.

Τα παιδικά χρόνια του Γιασίν διαμορφώθηκαν από τις διακοινοτικές συγκρούσεις στην Κύπρο, σε μια κοσμοπολίτικη οικογένεια που ανέθρεψε πολλούς συγγραφείς, εκπαιδευτικούς και δημοσιογράφους. Ανάμεσα στα μέλη της οικογένειας της μητέρας του, Ayshe Ipdjizadeh, ήταν ο ποιητής μουφτής της Οθωμανικής ποίησης του Divan, καθολικοί ποιητές και συγγραφείς που έγραφαν στα γαλλικά και τα αγγλικά, καθώς και εκδότες εφημερίδων που έπαιξαν σημαντικό ρόλο στη διαμόρφωση της ταυτότητας της τουρκοκυπριακής κοινότητας. Ο πατέρας του Ozker Yashin, του οποίου οι θείοι ήταν επιθεωρητές εκπαίδευσης, μορφώθηκε στην Κωνσταντινούπολη και θεωρείται ο πρώτος εθνικός ποιητής και συγγραφέας των Τουρκοκυπρίων. Οι γονείς του, οι οποίοι ασχολήθηκαν με τη λογοτεχνία και τον πολιτισμό, χώρισαν πριν γεννηθεί. 

Μετά τα Ματωμένα Χριστούγεννα του 1963, το σπίτι της οικογένειας Γιασίν στη Νεάπολη κάηκε από οπαδούς από Έλληνες ακραίους εθνικιστές. Κάποια μέλη της οικογένειας σκοτώθηκαν, κάποια αιχμαλωτίστηκαν, ενώ για μεγάλο χρονικό διάστημα η οικογένεια έζησε σαν προσφυγική στο κατάλυμα των δασκάλων στη Λεύκα, καθώς η μητέρα ήταν δασκάλα. Ήταν μια εποχή φτώχειας, αρρώστιας και ένοπλων συγκρούσεων, όπου ο κήπος τους έγινε νεκροταφείο για τους νεκρούς του πολέμου και οι κάτοικοι της περιοχής χρειάζονταν βοήθεια από τον ΟΗΕ για να συντηρηθούν. Κάτω από αυτές τις συνθήκες στη Λεύκα, όταν ήταν μεταξύ δέκα και έντεκα ετών, ο νεαρός Μεχμέτ Γιασίν έγραψε το πρώτο του ποίημα, “Μονάχα να μπορούσα”, γεμάτο από τη χαρά της ζωής. Το ποίημα δημοσιεύτηκε στο σχολικό περιοδικό και βραβεύτηκε και ο Γιασίν αφιέρωσε τον υπόλοιπο ελεύθερο χρόνο του κατά τη δεκαετία του 1970 διαβάζοντας και γράφοντας, προκειμένου να γίνει ποιητής και συγγραφέας.

Το 1976 μετέβη στην Τουρκία, όπου σπούδασε Διεθνείς Σχέσεις στη Σχολή Πολιτικών Επιστημών του Πανεπιστημίου της Άγκυρας. Στη συνέχεια ολοκλήρωσε το μεταπτυχιακό του στην Πολιτική Ιστορία στο Ινστιτούτο Κοινωνικών Επιστημών του Πανεπιστημίου της Κωνσταντινούπολης. Το πρώτο του ποιητικό βιβλίο, Αγαπημένε μου Νεκρέ Στρατιώτη (1984), κέρδισε το Βραβείο Ποίησης της Ακαδημίας και το Βραβείο Ποίησης Α. Καντίρ στην Κωνσταντινούπολη το 1985, αλλά απαγορεύτηκε από την τουρκική στρατιωτική χούντα, η οποία είχε έρθει στην εξουσία το 1980 με πραξικόπημα. Το 1986, επειδή είχε γράψει κατά του πολέμου στην Κύπρο, ο Γιασίν απελάθηκε από την Τουρκία ως “ξένος επιζήμιος για τα τουρκικά εθνικά συμφέροντα”. Ωστόσο, παρά την απαγόρευση, το πρώτο και το δεύτερο ποιητικό του βιβλίο επανεκδόθηκαν την ίδια χρονιά που συνελήφθη. Επέστρεψε αρχικά στη Βόρεια Κύπρο, αντιμετωπίζοντας και εκεί εκστρατείες δυσφήμισης και προσπάθειες απαξίωσης του. Έφυγε από το νησί για την Αγγλία και το 1989 πήρε υποτροφία στο Κέντρο Βυζαντινών, Οθωμανικών και Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών του Πανεπιστημίου του Μπέρμιγχαμ.

Ξεκίνησε να εργάζεται για τη μεταπτυχιακή του διατριτριβή στην ιστορία της πολύγλωσσης ποίησης στην Κύπρο και τους μετασχηματισμούς της ταυτότητας. Στη συνέχεια ολοκλήρωσε το διδακτορικό του στο Middlesex University και σπούδασε επίσης για λίγο Ελληνική Γλώσσα και Λογοτεχνία στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών. Το 1993 επέστρεψε στην Κωνσταντινούπολη μετά την άρση της διαταγής απέλασής του στην Τουρκία, όπου εξέδωσε το πρώτο του μυθιστόρημα, Ιχθύς ομογενής (1994), το οποίο κέρδισε το Βραβείο Μυθιστορήματος Cevdet Kudret. Το 1996, αφού δημοσίευσε μια σειρά αμφιλεγόμενων δοκιμίων και το βιβλίο κριτικής Poeturka (1995), σχετικά με την εθνικιστική και αναχρονιστική νοοτροπία της κανονικής τουρκικής ποίησης, επέστρεψε στο Λονδίνο. Από το 2002 έως το 2016 έζησε στο Κέιμπριτζ, τη Λευκωσία και την Κωνσταντινούπολη, ενώ από το 2017 ζει στην Αθήνα, το Λονδίνο και τη Λευκωσία. Έχει διδάξει συγκριτική λογοτεχνία, μεταφραστικές σπουδές, δημιουργική γραφή, κυπριακές σπουδές και σύγχρονη τουρκική ποίηση και λογοτεχνία σε διάφορα πανεπιστήμια στη Βρετανία, την Τουρκία και τα δύο μέρη της Κύπρου. 

Τα ποιήματα του Μεχμέτ Γιασίν δημοσιεύονται σε τουρκοκυπριακές εφημερίδες από το 1973, σε ελληνοκυπριακές εφημερίδες από το 1977, σε λογοτεχνικά περιοδικά στην Τουρκία από το 1979 και στην Ελλάδα, την Αγγλία και άλλες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες από τη δεκαετία του 1980. Τα έργα του έχουν μεταφραστεί σε 24 διαφορετικές γλώσσες, έχουν εκδοθεί σε μορφή βιβλίου σε 11 διαφορετικές χώρες και έχουν διαβαστεί σε 43 χώρες. Έχει συνεργαστεί με μουσικούς, θεατρικές ομάδες και σκηνοθέτες και έχει δημιουργήσει διάφορα διεπιστημονικά έργα, ιδίως ποιητικές εγκαταστάσεις, τις οποίες έχει εκθέσει στη Γαλλία, την Πορτογαλία, τη Βραζιλία, τον Λίβανο, τη Ρωσία και την Κύπρο, συμπεριλαμβανομένης μιας που αποτελεί πλέον μέρος μουσειακής συλλογής στο Βέλγιο. 

Στην τουρκική ποίηση των δεκαετιών μετά το 1980, έχει αποκτήσει επιρροή όχι μόνο μέσω των πρωτοποριακών ποιημάτων του, αλλά και μέσω της μοναδικής του οπτικής γωνίας στα λογοτεχνικά κριτικά δοκίμια. Η ακαδημαϊκή του ανθολογία, A Study of Interlingual and Intercultural Literature: 3000 Years of Cypriot Poetry (Μια μελέτη της διαπολιτισμικής και διαπολιτισμικής λογοτεχνίας: 3000 χρόνια κυπριακής ποίησης), κέρδισε το Βραβείο Λογοτεχνικής Έρευνας και Κριτικής Mehmet Fuat και το Βραβείο του Πανεπιστημίου Bilgi το 2005 στην Κωνσταντινούπολη. Μετά το 1989, εισήγαγε νέες συζητήσεις επί του θέματος σε συνέδρια και συλλογικές εκδόσεις στην Κωνσταντινούπολη και το Λονδίνο. Το 2000 δημοσίευσε το βιβλίο Step-Mothertongue: From Nationalism to Multiculturalism – Literatures of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey (Από τον εθνικισμό στην πολυπολιτισμικότητα – Λογοτεχνίες της Κύπρου, της Ελλάδας και της Τουρκίας), μια συγκριτική μελέτη της τουρκικής και της ελληνόγλωσσης λογοτεχνίας στο πλαίσιο σύγχρονων λογοτεχνικών θεωριών. Οι έννοιες και οι προσεγγίσεις της λογοτεχνίας που έχει αναπτύξει ο Γιασίν περιλαμβάνουν τις “step-mothertongue”, “κέντρο-περιφέρεια” και την “τουρκική μειονοτική λογοτεχνία”. Είναι σήμερα μια πολυσχιδής λογοτεχνική προσωπικότητα που έπαιξε μετασχηματιστικό ρόλο στη λογοτεχνία και τον πολιτισμό με τα ποιήματα, τα μυθιστορήματα, τα δοκίμια και τα κριτικά του κείμενα.

Μετά τη λήξη του εικοσαετούς γάμου του με τη Yael Navaro, καθηγήτρια κοινωνικής ανθρωπολογίας στο Πανεπιστήμιο του Κέιμπριτζ, το μόνο μέλος της οικογένειάς του είναι η κόρη του Ayshe-Mira Yashin, εικαστικός καλλιτέχνης από τη Βρετανία και την Κύπρο. Ο Γιάσιν αντανακλούσε πάντα τη ζωή του στα βιβλία του, πέρα από τους οικογενειακούς θεσμούς, και επίσης αντανακλούσε πάντα την προτίμησή του για τη μοναξιά, αλλά η συγγραφή του τον συνέδεσε με πολλούς ανθρώπους. Έχει εκδώσει 11 ποιητικά βιβλία, 4 μυθιστορήματα, 6 δοκίμια, συλλογές συνεντεύξεων, ανθολογική έρευνα και λογοτεχνικές μελέτες. Μέχρι σήμερα, δεν έχει δεχτεί κανένα βραβείο ή δεν έχει συναινέσει να του πάρουν συνέντευξη στην Κύπρο, ούτε από τη μία ούτε από την άλλη πλευρά, ούτε στη μία ούτε στην άλλη γλώσσα. Ο Μεχμέτ Γιασίν θεωρείται ένα από τα τελευταία μέλη της παλιάς κοσμοπολίτικης κυπριακής κοινότητας που έληξε με τις καταστροφές των πολέμων. Το λογοτεχνικό του έργο είναι επίσης μια αναγγελία μιας μελλοντικής κοινότητας πολυπολιτισμικών ταυτοτήτων. Η προσέγγισή του στη συγγραφή των ποιημάτων και της λογοτεχνίας του, ενώ υποστηρίζεται και διαμορφώνεται κυρίως από τη δική του ιστορία ζωής, υπερβαίνει οποιαδήποτε ενιαία ταυτότητα ή αίσθηση του ανήκειν από την άποψη του έθνους, της εθνικότητας, της θρησκείας, του φύλου ή του πολιτισμού.   

---

Mehmet Yashinis a unique figure in contemporary Turkish-language poetry, and a Cypriot writer and poet of international renown. His poems, novels and essays are considered to be part of the literature not only of Cyprus and Turkey, but of Greek and European literatures as well. Yashin’s post-1974 poems and other literary works ushered in a new era in the literature of the island of Cyprus, and soon became a subject of study in the world beyond the island. The different voice and sensibility that he brings to poetry in the Turkish language comes from his hybrid literary sources and melding of the Turkish and Greek cultures of the Mediterranean to create a dramatic and narrative lyrical idiom, his use of historically and geographically variant forms of Turkish, and his uniquely multidimensional poetic themes, which combine personal experiences with more general philosophical and social discourses.

Yashin’s childhood was shaped in a cosmopolitan family which nurtured numerous writers, educators and journalists, and by the conflict between the communities in Cyprus. Among his mother Ayshe Ipdjizadeh’s family members were Ottoman court poet Muftis, Catholic poets and writers who wrote in French and English, and newspaper publishers who played an important part in forming the identity of the Turkish-Cypriot community. His father Ozker Yashin, whose uncles were education inspectors, had his primary and secondary school education in Istanbul, and is considered to be the Turkish-Cypriots’ first national poet and writer; his parents, who were thus both involved in literature and culture, were divorced before he was born. 

After the Bloody Christmas of 1963, the Yashins’ family house in Neopolis was burnt down by Greek extreme nationalists; some family members were killed, some taken captive, and for a long time the family lived as refugees—in the teachers’ lodgings in Lefka, as the mother was a teacher. This was a time of poverty, sickness and armed conflicts, when their gardens became cemeteries for the war dead, and local people needed help from the UN to sustain themselves. It was under these circumstances in Lefka, when he was between the ages of ten and eleven, that the young Mehmet Yashin wrote his first poem, “If Only”, full of the joy of life. The poem was published in the school magazine and received an award; and Yashin devoted the rest of his free time during the 1970s to educating himself by reading and writing, in order to become a poet and a writer.

In 1976, he went to Turkey, where he studied international relations in the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University. He then completed a master’s degree in political history at the Institute of Social Sciences of Istanbul University. His first poetry book, My Love the Dead Soldier (1984), won the Academy Poetry Prize and the A. Kadir Poetry Award in Istanbul in 1985, but it was banned by the Turkish military junta, which had come to power in 1980 by a coup d’etat; and in 1986, specifically because he had written against the war in Cyprus, Yashin was deported from Turkey as ‘a foreigner harmful to Turkish national interests’. Yet despite the ban, his first and second poetry books were re-published the same year that he was arrested. At first he returned to North Cyprus, but found he was facing smear campaigns and attempts to discredit him there. He left the island for England, and in 1989 he got a scholarship at the Centre for Byzantine-Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham. He began working on his postgraduate thesis in the history of multi-lingual poetry in Cyprus and transformations of identity. He then completed his doctoral degree at Middlesex University; and he also studied for a while on Greek Language and Literature at the University of Athens. In 1993, following the lifting of his deportation order in Turkey, he returned to Istanbul, where he published his first novel, Your Kinsman Pisces  (1994), which won the Cevdet Kudret Novel Prize. In 1996, after publishing a series of controversial essays and the critical book Poeturka (1995), on the nationalistic and anachronistic mindset of canonical Turkish poetry, he returned to London. From 2002 to 2016 he lived in Cambridge, Nicosia and Istanbul, and since 2017 he has been living in Athens, London and Nicosia. He has taught comparative literature, translation studies, creative writing, Cypriot studies and contemporary Turkish poetry and literature at various universities in Britain, Turkey and both parts of Cyprus. 

Mehmet Yashin’s poems have been published in Turkish-Cypriot newspapers since 1973, in Greek-Cypriot newspapers since 1977, in literary magazines in Turkey since 1979, and in Greece, England and other European conuntries since the 1980s. His works have been translated into 24 different languages, published in book form in 11 different countries, and read in 43 countries. He has collaborated with musicians, theater groups, and film directors, and created various interdisciplinary projects, poetry installations in particular, which he has exhibited in France, Portugal, Brazil, Lebanon, Russia and Cyprus, including one that is now part of a museum collection in Belgium. 

In post-1980s Turkish poetry, he has become influential not only through his cutting-edge poems, but also through his unique perspective in literary critical essays: his academic anthology, A Study of Interlingual and Intercultural Literature: 3000 Years of Cypriot Poetry, won the Mehmet Fuat Literary Research and Criticism Prize and the Bilgi University Award in 2005. After 1989, he introduced new discussions on the subject in conferences and collaborative publications in Istanbul and London; and in 2000, he published Step-Mothertongue: From Nationalism to Multiculturalism – Literatures of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, a comparative study of Turkish and Greek languages literatures in the contexts of contemporary literary theories. Concepts and approaches to literature Yashin has developed include ‘step-mothertongue’, the ‘center-periphery’, and ‘Turkish minority literature’. He has become a polymath literary figure, playing a transformative role in literature and culture through his poems, novels, essays and critical writings.

Since ending his twenty-year marriage with Yael Navaro, a professor of social anthropology at Cambridge University, his only family member has been his daughter Ayshe-Mira Yashin, a new-generation visual artist from Britain and Cyprus. Yashin has always reflected his life in his books, beyond family institutions, and also always reflected his preference for solitude, but his writing has connected him with many people. He has published 11 poetry books, 4 novels and 6 essays, literary studies, anthological research as well as interview collections. Up until today, he has not accepted any awards or consented to be interviewed in Cyprus, on either side or in either language. While he is considered to be one of the last members of the old cosmopolitan Cypriot community that ended with the disasters of wars, his literary work is also an announcement of a future community of multicultural identities. His approach to writing his poems and literature, while mostly supported and shaped by his own life story, transcends any single identity or sense of belonging in terms of nation, ethnicity, religion, gender or culture.   

Bibliography: 1984-2024

Şiir | Ποίηση | Poetry

Eeen Güzel Şey, (The Mooost Beautiful Thing), İthaki Yay., 2023, Istanbul.

Abuk, (Abouk/Nonsense) Doğan Kitap, 2017, Istanbul.

Dokuz Şiir Kitabı – Toplu Şiirler: 1975-2013 (Nine Poetry Books – Collected Poems: 1975-2013, Yapı Kredi Yay., 2014, Istanbul.

Evden Kaçan Çocuk (The Child Who Escaped from the Home), Yapı Kredi Yay., 2013, Istanbul.

Kalbi Durmuş Zamanda (Its Heart Stopped in Time), Everest Yay., 2009, Istanbul

Turuncu Kuş (Orange Bird), Everest Yay., 2007, Istanbul.

Toplu Şiirler: 1977-2002 (Collected Poems), Everest Yay., 2007, Istanbul.

Adı Kayıplar Listesinde (Its Name is in the Missing List), Yapı Kredi Yay., 2002, Istanbul.

Hayal Tamiri (To Repair a Daydream), Adam Yay., 1998, Istanbul

Sözverici Koltuğu (The ChairMan), Adam Yay., 1993, Istanbul.

Pathos (Pathos), Cem Yay., 1990, Adam Yay., 1996, Istanbul.

Işık Merdiven (Ladder of Light), Cem Yay., 1986, Istanbul.

Sevgilim Ölü Asker (My Love the Dead Soldier), Yeni Türkü Yay., 1984, Istanbul.

Roman | Μυθιστόρημα | Novels

Selam Metin Ben Berceste (Hello Metin I am Berceste), İthaki Yay., 2024, Istanbul.

Sarı Kehribar (Yellow Amber), Yapı Kredi Yay., 2014, Istanbul.

Sınırdışı Saatler (The Hours of Deportation), Adam Yay., 2003, Istanbul.

Soydaşınız Balık Burcu (Your Kinsman Pisces), Iletisim Yay., 1994, Istanbul.

Deneme, Edebiyat İncelemesi, Antolojik-araştırma, Çeviri | Δοκίμια, Λογοτεχνική Μελέτη, Ανθολογική έρευνα, Μετάφραση | Essays, Literary Study, Anthological research, Translation

Başka Evlere Yolculuklar (Traveling to Other Houses: Short Essays), (short essays and translated Greek and European poems), Yitik Ülke Yay., 2022, Istanbul.

Yanan Eve Yolculuklar (Traveling to the Burned House: Collected Interviews), Yitik Ülke Yay., 2020, Istanbul.

Cyprianka: Kıbrıs Şiirinin 3000 Yılı (Cyprianka: 3000 Years of the Poetry of Cyprus), (literary study), Yitik Ülke Yay., 2019, Istanbul.

Toplu Yazılar: 1978-2005 (collected essays), Everest Yay., 2007, Istanbul.

Diller ve Kültürler Arası Bir Edebiyat İncelemesi: Kıbrıs Şiiri Antolojisi (MÖ 9.-MS 20. yy.)

(An Inter-Cultural and Inter-Lingual Study: The Poetry Anthology of Cyprus – BC 9th-AD 20th Centuries), (literary study & anthological research), Adam Yay., 2005, Istanbul

Kozmopoetika (Cosmopoetica) (essays), Yapı Kredi Yay., 2002, Istanbul

Eski Kıbrıs Şiiri Antolojisi: MÖ 9.-MS 18.yy (Early Cypriot Poetry Anthology: BC 9th- AD 20th Centuries), (literary study & anthological research), Yapı Kredi Yay., 1999, Istanbul.

Poeturka (Poeturca) (essays), Adam Yay., 1995, Istanbul.

Kıbrıslıtürk Şiiri Antolojisi: 18.-20.yy. (Turkish-Cypriot Poetry Anthology: 18th-20th Centuries), (literary study & anthological research), Yapı Kredi Yay., 1994 Istanbul.

Ortak Kitaplar, Editörlüğü Yapılan Akademik Kitaplar | Συνυπογραφή Βιβλίων, Επιμέλεια Ακαδημαϊκών Βιβλίων | Collaborative Books, Scholarly Books He Edited

Varmak (Collaborative book by 10 international authors whose works belong to more than one country, in Turkish, German, Norwegian, Ukrainian and Kurdish languages on the concept of ‘Arrive’.), Kıraathane Yay., 2023, Istanbul.

D’entre et d’exil: Insularie (Collaborative book, by 10 islander writers and poets from the Mediterranean, Caribbean Sea, and Indian Ocean), Bibliothèque Centre Pompidou, 2010, Paris.

Modern Kıbrıslı-Türk Edebiyatı Dizisi/The Series of Modern Turkish-Cypriot Literatures,

bi- lingual publication (general editor and project manager), cilt.I Şiir/vol.I Poetry; cilt.II Operet ve Oyun/vol.II Operetta and Plays; cilt.III Anı ve Gezi Yazıları/vol.III Memoirs and Travel Writing; cilt.IV Öyküler/ vol.IV Short Stories; cilt.V Romanlar/vol.V Novels; cilt.VI Denemeler/vol.VI Essays; cilt.VII Edebiyat Eleştirisi ve İnceleme/ vol.VII Literary Criticism and Study; cilt.VIII Yaşamöyküsü ve Kaynakça/vol.VIII Biographies and Bibliographies, Cypress: Research, Translation, and Publication Group, Freebird Press, 2009, Kyrenia-Istanbul.

Sala: 10 Kipro Poetry (Collaborative book by 10 Cypriot poets writing in Greek, Turkish, and English languages), Baltos Iankos, 2006, Vilnius.

Step-Mothertongue: From Nationalism to Multiculturalism in The Literatures of Cyprus,

Greece and Turkey (editor and project manager), Middlesex University Press, 2000, London.

Turkish-Cypriot Identity in Literature (editor and project manager), GLA/Fatal, 1989, London.

Edebiyatta Kıbrıslı-Türk Kimliği (editor and project manager), Varlık Yay., 1988, Istanbul.

Başka Dillere Çevrilen Şiir Kitapları ve Romanları | Μεταφράσεις ποιητικών βιβλίων και μυθιστορημάτων του άλλες γλώσσες | His Poetry Books and Novels Translated into Other Languages

Ώρες εκτόπισης (Greek novel) μετάφραση Φράνκο Καραολάν, Αστάρτη, 2024, Αθήνα.

Engjëjt hakmarrë (Albanian poetry) translated by Petros Tserkezis, Neriada, 2024, Tirana.

Κίτρινο κεχριμπάρι (Greek novel) μετάφραση Φράνκο Καράολαν, Αστάρτη, 2021, Αθήνα.

Странная Мечта Господина Инкогнито (Russian poetry) translated by Maya Meliova & Larissa Poliakova, Sidorovich, 2020, St. Petersburg.

Ιχθύς Ομογενής: Ένας Ευρωπαίος χωρίς Πατρίδα (Greek novel), μετάφραση Ροδή Τομουρτζούκγκιουλ, Αστάρτη, 2018, Αθήνα.

Άγγελοι Εκδικητές (Greek poetry), μετάφραση Αϊναλής Δ. Ζήσης, Βακχικόν, 2015, Αθήνα.

La recontre de Sapho et Rumi (French prose-poetry), translated by Alain Mascarou and Aslı Aktuğ), Le Refuge, September 2014, Marseille.

Istanbul wartet auf niemanden mehr (German poetry) translated by Recai Hallaç and Christina Tremmel-Turan, Verlag auf dem Ruffel, October 2014, Berlin.

De nachtbus (Dutch poetry), translated by Dick Koopman, Liverse, 2010, Hoevelaken-Amsterdam.

I vostro fratello del segno dei pesci (Italian novel), translated by Rosita D’Amora and Anna Lia Proietti Ergün, Gremese, 2010, Roma.

Il drago ha anche le ali (Italian poetry), translated by Rosita D’Amora, Argo, 2008, Lecce.

Le ore del confino (Italian novel and biography), translated by Rosita D’Amora and Anna Lia Proietti Ergün, Mediterraneo e Cultura, 2008, Lucera.

Constantinople n’attend plus personne (French poetry and essays), translated by Alain Mascarou, Bleu autour, 2008, Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule.

Vecas dziesmos no Jaunas pisetas (Latvian poetry), translated by Ulds Berzins, Adria Adria, 2008, Riga.

Wartime (English poetry), translated by Taner Baybars, The Happy Dragons’, 2007, Essex.

Don’t Go Back to Kyrenia (English poetry), Middlesex University Press, translated by Taner Baybars, edited by Peter Bush, 2001, London.