i forget my body
and a tree forgets its motion
i forget that i have lived
and the sea forgets its anemones
–LÂLE MÜLDÜR
“A Solar Regression”

Translated by Burak Erdoğdu / Roza Publishing
Read Turkish version
Narin Yükler's Creative Process

I walked gently in the streets that ends up with the same road

Mountain said that she knows the secrets of trees

And she heard what is to be said for tomorrow

The stone was a language that still lives and I kept it for myself

While the history was cleaning his own stains

I have passed through tunnels for reaching myself

And passed through gates which has reliefs

I knew villages thats names rewritten from their seasoning

And I thought that sharp smell of past would be on the road

Will not break my neck at the colonial altar

I thought that İbrahim would split his humpback with his axe

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İbrahim

özenle yürüdüm aynı yola çıkan sokakları

ağaçların sırrına erdiğini söyledi dağ

duyup söylediğini sonraki zamana

sakladım, yaşayan diller sınıfına giriyordu taş

inatçı geçmişle lekesini ovarken tarih

kendime dönmek için tüneller geçtim

geçtim kabartma tarihli kapılardan

ismi değiştirilen köyleri baharatlarından bildim

sandım keskin geçmiş kokusu kalacak o yolda

kırmayacak boynumu sömürge sunağında

sandım elindeki baltayla kendi kamburunu yaracak ibrahim

Narin Yükler was born in Viranşehir of Şanlıurfa in 1988. She graduated from the Tourism and Hospitality Management School of Gaziantep University and from the Faculty of Business Administration of Anadolu University. After graduation, she started to work as a hotel manager. She got married in 2012 and had her daughter in 2014. During that time, she took part in the activities of various non-governmental and human rights organizations, especially women’s rights organisations.

Many of her stories and poems about Middle Eastern–especially Kurdish/Ezidi–women were published in several newspapers and magazines in Iraq, Belgium, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey. She held meetings in refugee camps where she read her poems written in Kurdish and Turkish languages. She has written theatrical plays on the human and women’s rights, some of which were staged. Being a woman, a mother and a refugee in the Middle East. Her poetry books include Aynadaki Çürüme and Rê û Rêç. Her awards include KAOS GL Short Story Award – Selection Committee (2015), Hüseyin Çelebi Poetry Prize (2015), Ali İsmail Korkmaz Poetry Prize (2016), Golden Daphne Award For Young Poets – Selection Committee (2016), Arkadaş Zekai Özger Poetry Award (2017) and the Arjen ArÎ Poetry Award (2017).

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MY CREATIVE PROCESS
Can you tell us a little about the origins of this series of poems?
My poetry deals with war, women, and migration.

Why do you write?
To cling to life. I live in the Middle East and have seen many countries in the Middle East. I wrote scripts and poems during these travels. Writing is a way of defending life. And therefore I see literature as necessary. Yes, we can not change the world by typing, but we can tell what causes war and immigration. I want to tell everyone about it.

Tell us about some of your formative influences and teachers who have been important to you.
My teachers encouraged me to read. I started to study philosophy. I write poetry and I cannot write poetry without reading philosophy.

The Future – What are you currently working on?
I'm working on a Kurdish poem. I am living in the heat. I want to develop projects related to refugee flags and children. I am interested in making documentaries, films, and poetry workshops.