English

KADIR AYDEMIR; was born 13 th September 1977 in İstanbul. After graduating Fenerbahçe High School, he studied business management and public relations at university for a while. His early poems were published in “Şiir Oku” (Read Poem) magazine. His poems and writings have been seen in various magazines. He published 11 issues of the periodical “Başka” (The Other) poem magazine betweeen 1997 and 2003. He has been the editor of the website www.yitikulke.com that he founded since 2000. The book named “Gölü Emen Mektup” (The Letter That Absorbed The Lake) was published in Azerbaijani language in Azerbaijan. “Aşksız Gölgeler” (Lieblose Schatten), short stories, was published in German language in Germany, 2103. His poems were translated into languages such as English, French, Italian, Armenian, Azerbaijani language, Bulgarian language, Japanese, Russian and Mongolian. He also writes stories and proses. He admires Yannis Ritsos. He published his first haiku poem magazine called Haikum (My Haiku). One of Kadir Aydemir’s haikus won the EU-Japan NewSpace2060 International Illustrated Haiku Competition and the poem was sent into space on a space shuttle. Kadir Aydemir, a member of the International PEN Writers Association, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Yitik Ülke Publications (Lost Land Publications). The author, who works as an editor and publisher, lives and continues to write in Istanbul. 

BOOKS:

Sessizliğin Bekçisi (The Watcher of the Silence) (Haikus, 2002, Hera Poem Library)

Dikenler Sarayı (The Palace of Stings) (2003-2012, Yitik Ulke -Lost Land- Publications)

Aşksız Gölgeler (The Shadows Without Love) (Stories, Yitik Ulke Publications)

Rüzgarla Saklı (Hidden by Wind) (Love Poems, 2007, Yitik Ulke Publications)

Sonsuz Unutuş (Eternal Forgetting) (Short stories, 2012, Yitik Ulke  Publications)

Soğuk Yazgı (Cold Destiny) (Poems and Haiku’s, 2014, Yitik Ulke Publications)

Ay Yağmurları (Moon Rains) (Short story, 2016, Yitik Ulke Publications)

Otların Kalbi (Heart of Grass) (Haiku's, 2023, Yitik Ulke Publications)

 

BOOKS PUSLISHED ABROAD:

Gölü Emen Mektup (The Letter That Absorbed The Lake) (2005, Azerbaycan, Paralel Şiir Kitaplığı) (2005, Azerbaijan, Parallel Poem Library)

Aşksız Gölgeler (Lieblose Schatten) (2013, Germany, Binooki Verlag)

The Guardian of Silence – “Sessizliğin Bekçisi” (2019, Bulgaristan, Skyway Publications)

THE SELECTIVE STORIES HE PREPARED:

Cunda Öyküleri (Cunda Stories) (Eylül 2006, Yitik Ülke Yayınları) (September 2006, Lost Land Publications)

Ekşi Öyküler (Sour Stories) (Mayıs 2007, Yitik Ülke Yayınları) (May 2007, Lost Land Publications)

Bozcaada Öyküleri (Tenedos Stories) (2009, Lost Land Publications)

Olimpos Öyküleri (Olympos Stories) (2010, Lost Land Publications)

80’lerde Çocuk Olmak (Being Child in 80’s) (2010, Lost Land Publications)

90’lar Kitabı (Book of 90’s) (2012, Lost Land Publications)

Tuhaf Alışkanlıklar Kitabı (Book of Weird Habits) (2012, Lost Land Publications)

Mutsuz Aşk Vardır (Unhappy Love Stories) (2014, Lost Land Publications)

Yitik Öykü (Lost Stories) (2014, Lost Land Publications)

Kedi Öyküleri (Cat Stories) (2017, Lost Land Publications)

 

VARIOUS SOURCES:

https://soundcloud.com/s-leyman-s-rr-ya-l/111-kadir-aydemir Sesli şiir / Yer Değiştirme

https://soundcloud.com/phonodia/sets/kadir-aydemir Sesli şiirler

http://phonodia.unive.it/people/kadir-aydemir/ Phonodia

http://www.transcript-review.org/en/issue/transcript-30-poetry-from-turkey/new-turkish-poetry/kadir-aydemir Transcript Review

http://www.klosi.org/news/klosi_news_literature/7068.html Klosi News

https://defterpoesiaturca.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/kadir-aydemir-due-poesie/ Defter – Poesia Turca Contemporanea

 

 

SONGS OF THE WIND / Kadir Aydemir

I. Naked
A fishing village,
four houses, some dogs, and shells broken by the sea,
a silent well
where maidens linger.
And a temple on the island’s far coast.
Hasan, the shepherd, sings non-stop.
Suddenly, I understand olive trees.

II. End
He says, sounding bored, one day’s like the next,
sweeping webs from the ceiling with a broom.
On the shelf, in a dusty glass, a stopped wristwatch.
By the damp saltshaker, a blackened silver ring.

III. The Poet’s Dream
Poetry, he says, is my sister,
born in a washtub, becoming a tile
my mother warmed and placed on her belly….

IV. Meeting
Crossing the iron bridge, hand in hand,
your breath like freesias.
When I bend to touch your hair,
your mouth is covered with doves and dead leaves.
Descending the long stairs,
we watch our shadows move apart.

Translated by Nesrin Eruysal & Ken Fifer
Söyleşi Üç Aylık Şiir Dergisi Ada Sayısı

 

 

ON THE ISLAND / Kadir Aydemir

We stand in front of a house on the island
with a cracked mirror on the wall,
probably a wedding gift.
Stairs lead us to the sea
where we hear the last words of birds
and everything ‘s growing.
One look at the clouds and we know it’ll rain.
I’m picking a flower that has completed
itself in the garden,
when suddenly a seagull turns away
and the wind closes its shimmering curtains.
Seaweeds start burning.
The water trembles of its own accord.
You leap feet-first into the ocean,
your hair smelling of mimosa.

Translated by Nesrin Eruysal & Ken Fifer
Visions International #83
ISSN: 0194-1690

 

 

THE ISLAND / Kadir Aydemir 

Undoing the fishing knot that refuses
to come loose – an ordinary
sleight of hand for him – a cigarette between his lips
as if smiling.
Before cutting bait, pieces of dead octopus,
with his pocket knife, he asks,
What’s the time?
And I say, Three-thirty.
I look at hundreds of shellfish fastened
on his basket.
How come they don’t get tangled? I ask.
Like the octopus, he doesn’t talk, just reaches.

A little while ago a wedding procession
went by with towels in their hands.
I was on the hill near the house, all weeds
ready to ignite their yellowing faces.
Far off, barely heard bells
and the smell of sheep approaching.
I came across a short shepherd
with a gun hanging across his waist
inherited from his grandfather.
In his pocket a flashlight to shine when the moon doesn’t.
Hello, I said. Animals heard your voice, he said.
Sure enough, sheep had changed course
I threw a stone on the ground.

Mustafa Kaptan lives on a sailboat with Tekir,
the only cat on the island.
We eat what the sea gives,
he says, and yesterday’s bread sprinkled with water.
He acts surprised, as if he had seen his own face, then cuts
his cat a piece of dried fish.

We placed the shells on the mouth of the cold water well
Recep Abi digs them from the depths of the sea.
He is a part of the sea now.
His son Marko comes, mutters something
in Greek. He lifts a blackened knife
to shuck the shells.

A small grass snake disappears into the bushes.
Voices of exhausted grasshoppers…

The early island lights go on;
against the town’s flickering images,
bats possess the sky at dusk.
Below, a broken tractor abandoned under the cypress tree,
dried peaches nobody could pick up,
a donkey braying in the sun,
yearning for the sea like the rest of us.

Süleyman abi says that God gave us
the lifespan of an eagle. When I look into his eyes,
I see the shore where scorpions descend
as night settles in and fishermen seek
refuge when a storm breaks in winter.

Note: Kaptan means the master of a seagoing vessel. Abi means older brother.

Translated by Nesrin Eruysal & Ken Fifer
The Wolf Magazine Issue 21 London
ISSN: 1755-3458

 

 

REALITY AND COLD / Kadir Aydemir

 

I. Recalling

The belly of a cloud
billows with the strong wind
We hear the irregular
sound of a distant bell
Suddenly a sword: make the lightning
suffer
Where the sounds meet:
fields of desire
Bare rocks
reject the water with arrogance.

 

II. The Eye

Poplars, telegraph poles
the cricket
never stops
Olive tree surrounded with
crushed weeds
Everything is
furtive
And a robin
as if listening
to a conversation
Distant people
A palace of solid thorns
Pain:
on earth
and in the gatekeeper’s face.

 

III. Comprehending

Solicitude:
slowness of the river
The sun
is about to set
The bird is making its nest
A grave:
tense texture of dark
Lost shadows
The wind immortalizes the birds
Mist
hides its cowardly face
Patient things
Courtesy of destiny.

 

IV. Ashes and Fire

Our dead,
ripeness of colours
in their orbits
Standing over there
as if freeing themselves of shame
Reflection of an infinite eye
An irregular sound
A hand holding a pigeon
A hidden harmony
An expanding universe in their mouths

Translated by Gökçenur Ç.

 

 

IN THE DEPTHS / Kadir Aydemir

 

I.
The cold star
I hide in my body
Is for you

Your voice is the wind
And your hands the sleep

The same sun
Which warms us both.

 

II.
I listened to the sea
Went to the earth

The water draws my heart.

 

III.
Give me the softness
The fringes of the night

With the advent of cold
Birds are led to migration

The wind bends me
Against you.

Translated by Hakan Yılmaz

 

 

COME ON, WAKE UP / Kadir Aydemir

 

I am looking at your photo
Your naked shadow
is a fluttering butterfly on the ground

The first night I woke up with you
The rain had started to speak
I had smelled your body

My flower of sleep,
As you combed your hair
I thought of flightless sparrows

Where now
Is your little mirror
That makes us forget everything?

Translated by Tozan Alkan

 

 

 

WINTER OF POETRY / Kadir Aydemir

You are scattering dust on snow
the beak of a cloud cuts the writhing
worm

Think of all that happens
Understand the stalactite that is angry with the sun

Your Father is drunk, there is a coal truck in front of the house
Understand, your tears won’t melt this snow.

Translated by Gökçenur Ç.