BULENT OZCAN

Born on 25 February 1973 in Sariz (Kayseri) He completed his primary, middle and high school in Gaziantep.

He studied in the Southgate College in London and in the New College in Nottingham.

He was the art director of the papers Dogus, Önder, Yeni Gazete, Sizin Gazete, Ekspres and Arena. He was responsible for the editorial work in Dogan and Sok.
He wrote over philosophy and culture in Spor 27. He also organised several poetry exhibitions. The exhibition he organised at a bus stop in Gaziantep was reviewed in the international press.

His poems were published in magazines including Aykiri Sanat, Berfin Bahar, Çali, Damla, Edebiyat Gündemi, Kirk Merdiven, Kuzeysu, Safak, Öteki-siz and Siir Defteri.

Moreover, he wrote poems and articles under the aliases A. Ozan Akgünes, Özlem Güney Aytekin and Can Ozan, and his work were published in 'Genç Kalemler' led by the managing director Sadettin Kaplan. Özcan described this undertaking as “a genuine school for art and literature'.

His poems translated by Naser Feiz into Persian were published in well-known poetry magazines in Tehran.

His collected poems were published in February 1994 under the title of “I Die the Most Beautiful Death of All”, which was welcomed with great enthusiasm.

In April 1995 he published the Bagbozumu Ortak Betik. However, for some political reasons its publication had to be suspended.

In May 1996, the second edition of “I Die the Moat Beautiful Death of All” was published together with his new poems by Ilke Publications. Poets and critics in Turkey welcomed Özcan as one of the strangest seals of the time.

He undertook some protest actions in order to criticize the indifference of the people in the face of social events and intellectuals’ withdrawal into their own little worlds. On 8 May 1996 he threw his books into the sea over the Galata Bridge as a protest. And on 25 February 1997 he put his books in the Gaziantep cemetery, so that the dead could hear the concert of his poems. Both protest actions were publicised in the media.

He is member of the following associations and trade unions: Türkiye Yazarlar Sendikasi (The Trade Union of Turkish Writers) , Association of the Literature, and the Journalists Society.

In May 1997 he left Turkey, since then he has been living in London. In the years from 1996 to 2002 he published his new works in Istanbul under the title of "Poppy Sprinkles" (Gelincik Tozlari).

If you want to read his English poems click here!