GRADS IN THE NEWS
The Yunus Nadi Award given by Cumhuriyet newspaper is one of the most prestigious literary honors in Turkey, and this year Cevat Çapan received the award in the poetry category, with his poetry collection Bir Başka Coğrafyadan, (From Another Geography, Yapı Kredi Yayınları).
Çapan states that the award came as a surprise: “I never thought the jury would consider an old fellow of my age as a suitable candidate for the prize, and I hadn't sent my book for the prize anyway. The source of inspiration of the poems in the book is mostly the people I have known, the places I've seen, and the events I've been through.”
Çapan is one of the foremost poets in Turkey, as well as a translator and academic. Bir Başka Coğrafyadan is comprised of three sections and 26 poems and takes his poetic storytelling to another level. During his years at RC and beyond, Çapan surveyed British, American and Turkish literature over the ages, and his passion for poetry as well his mounting knowledge were the fuel to his own body of poetry. Çapan has also meticulously translated many foreign poets’ works and introduced them to Turkish readers.
