ABOUT – Mesut Şenol

Who is Mesut Şenol?

He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Political Science and completed his master’s degree in Management and Public Relations.
He served as district governor, deputy governor, and mayor in various regions of Turkey.
He worked as an “Editor” at the News and Publishing Services Department of the Prime Ministry Press and Information General Directorate, and later served as the Head of the Public Relations Department of the Prime Ministry.
He served as an Advisor to the National Security Council General Secretariat on Human Rights, International Institutions, Organizations, and the USA. During his tenure at the National Security Council Secretariat, he was also sitting on the Higher Prime Ministerial Council for Human Rights in Turkey headed by the State Minister.
He prepared and presented programs on TRT and private television channels, including “Teleyurt,” “Televizyon,” and “Şehrin Tiyatrosu – The City’s Theatre” on KRT and Beykent University Television channels. He also served as Deputy General Manager of KRT for a period.
His European Union project “Sister Cities,” prepared for TRT, documented cultural relations between 13 Turkish municipalities and their sister cities in European countries. He also contributed to the Ministry of Culture documentaries “Munzur Elveriyor” and “Estel Midyat Arası”.
He served on the Organizing Committee as a Government Representative at the 9th World Productivity Congress held at the Çırağan Palace in Istanbul. As a consultant for the Istanbul Governor’s Office’s EU and UN Good Governance Project, he moderated the “European Union Blue Hall Thursday Meetings”. He is the Founding President of the EU Pioneers Association.
He has taught courses at Bahçeşehir University, Yeditepe University, and 18 March University on subjects such as Public Diplomacy, PR Ethics, Diction, Public Speaking, Poetry Translation, and NGO Management.

Literature, Translation & Papirüs Magazine

He has published 20 poetry books and his numerous poems and literary translations have appeared in national and international publications. He has also translated Sociology and Political Psychology textbooks used in universities.
Mesut Şenol is a member of the Turkish PEN Center, the Turkish Writers’ Union, ÇEV-BİR, the Film-San Foundation, BESAM, the Turkish Journalists’ Association, and FIJET. He is a Board Member of the Three Seas Writers and Translators Council, the Turkish representative of the Liceo Poetico De Benidorm, and a member of Movimiento Poetas del Mundo.
He assumed the General Editorship of Papirüs Magazine, a legacy of the legendary poet Cemal Süreya, for the duration of five years. Published by Artshop Publishing, he took over the editorship with the 24th issue in February 2020 and continued until the 47th issue.
During his 26-issue tenure, the bimonthly magazine gained the identity of a thematic “literature book/anthology”, featuring in-depth special files on leading figures of Turkish and world literature, such as Attila İlhan, Arif Damar, İsmail Bozkurt, Metin Eloğlu, Halikarnas Balıkçısı, and Tarık Günersel.
As the “Culture-Art” Advisor of the FILM-SAN Foundation, his research article titled “External Promotion and Branding of Countries” was published in Dünya Newspaper.

Awards & Honors

2005: He was ceremonially presented with the “Distinguished Leadership Award” by the University of Minnesota.
2011: Received the International Naji Naaman Literary Honorary Award.
2017: Won the First Prize at the International Galetteo City Literature Competition in Italy.
2019: Awarded the Tulliola-Renato Filipelli prize, traditionally given by the Rome Senate in Italy.
2026: Won the First Prize at the 31st International Poetry Competition “Premio Internazionale di Poesia ‘Poseidonia Paestum'” held in Paestum, Italy.