We Will Rebuild Everything — Özkan Mert

Poet b 210ctobeM944 E rzurum He attended Namık Kemal High School in İzmir He studied at Ankara University Faculty of Language History and Geography Department of Sinology but dıd not graduate He worked as a topographer at the Turkish Electricity Authority He studied drama theatre and film at the Swedish Lund University From 1973 on he lived in Svveden and after 1981 he worked as a producer at the Svvedish National Radio Department of Turkish Broadcasting and as consultant at cultural institutions Mert who took up poetry in early 1960 s in İzmir experienced the turmoil of the event in 68 He became one of the pioneering rotest poets of the 60 s generation with his book Kuracağız Her Şeyi Yeniden We Will Re establish Everything 1969 which was banned right after its publication He received the Yunus Nadi Honorary Mention and ilhan Demiraslan Poetry Award in 1990 the Salihli Poetry Aftemoon Migrant Poets Award and Cemal Süreya Award He is a member of the VVriters Syndicate of Turkey the Turkish Authors Association the Turkish PEN Association of VVriters the Swedish VVriters Association the Svvedish V ıters Union and the Svvedish F ıN Gommittee for Imprisoned W ıters His poems have been included in intenational anthologies such as Modern Türk Şiiri Modern Turkish Poetry by Feyyaz Kayacan and Meeting in Svveden by Eva Dahlström