ABDÜLKADİR BUDAK

He was born in the Hafik district of Sivas and later settled in Ankara, where he completed his primary and secondary education. He is a graduate of Sincan High School. Budak, whose first poem appeared in “Defne” magazine in 1970, began his career as a civil servant. After serving for many years in Kayseri and Malatya, he retired in 1994 and settled in Ankara.

While stationed in Kayseri for his job, he collaborated with fellow poets to launch the magazines “Ozanca” and “Hakimiyet Sanat”. After a rather long break, he resumed his magazine publishing activities in early 2000 with “Şiir Odası – Poetry Chamber”, which ran for 12 issues. He currently manages the magazine “Sincan İstasyonu”, the first issue of which was published in September 2007.

He has published his poems and essays on poetry in various magazines, most notably “Varlık”, “Yazko Edebiyat”, “Türk Dili”, “Yusufçuk”, “Adam Sanat”, “Defter”, “Yasakmeyve”, and “Kitap-lık”. His poems have been translated into foreign languages, and master’s theses have been written about his work.

A selection of essays regarding his poetry was included in the book “Abdülkadir Budak Şiiri – The Poetry of Abdülkadir Budak / Irmağın Bakışları – Glimpses of the River” (2022), prepared for publication by Ümit Yıldırım, while his interviews were compiled by Emel Güz in the book “Aşkla Yazılmıştır Benim Şiirlerim – My Poems Are Written With Love” (2019).

Poetry books: “Geçti İlkyaz Denemesi (The Spring Trial Has Passed)” (1978); “Şimdi Yaz (Write Now)” (1980); “Gömleğim Leylâ Desenli (My Shirt Has a Leyla Pattern)” (1981); “Sevdanın Son Kerem’i (Love’s Final Kerek)” (1985); “İmzası Gül (Signed Rose)” (1993; 1994 Ceyhun Atuf Kansu and Orhon Murat Arıburnu Poetry Awards); “Yanlış Anka Destanı” (1994); “Aşk Beni Geçer (Love Passes Me By)” (1997; 1998 Halil Kocagöz Poetry Award); “Endişeli Fesleğen (Anxious Basil)” (1999); “Ahşap Anahtar (Wooden Key)” (2000); “Ev Zamanı (Home Time)” (2002); “Sana Bakmak (Looking At You)” (2004); “İşaretler” (Selected Poems, 2006); “Dalgın Rüzgâr” (Collected Poems-1, 2007); “Mesafe” (2011; the manuscript of the same name won the 2008 Yunus Nadi Poetry Award); “Okyanus Görmüş Gemi (Ocean-Seen Ship)” (2013, Ahmet Necdet Poetry Award); “Kapalı Bir Açılım (A Closed-Off Opening-Up)” (2015); “İştahlı Makas (Voracious Scissors)” (Collected Poems-2, 2020); “Plakası Okunmuyor (License Plate Is Illegible)” (2024).

Children’s Literature: “Bir Gül Çocuk – A Rose Child” (1981; 1982 Turkish Language Association Children’s Literature Award); “Kuşların Alfabesi – The Alphabet of Birds” (1997; 1988 Sıtkı Dost Children’s Literature Award – for the manuscript); “Uykusu Gelen Çiçek – The Sleepy Flower ” (2010).

Prose: Ayna Sandım – I Thought It Was a Mirror, Poetry (1998), Ya Şiir Olmasaydı – What If There Were No Poetry (2010), Şiirin Rayları – The Rails of Poetry (2012)