Poetry: Nurduran Duman

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Picture
translated by Ru en Ergün

the empty frame in me
is a fracture water
the lake of past time

Colorless end.

the tulle of swan
is smoke on my face
its photograph is black

No white in the love word…

this sadness this expression from ash
flame has scattered from its brush
I didn’t burn

but died.

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Nurduran Duman (Çan-Çanakkale, 23.10.1974) is a poet, writer, essayist, translator who lives in Istanbul. She wrote her first poem when she was 8 years old. When she was 9, she promised herself to be a writer in the future. She liked poetry, became a poet. Because of her passion about “sea” she attended Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering and graduated as an “Ocean Engineer” and a “Naval Architect”. Her poem collection “Yenilgi Oyunu (The Defeat Game)” has been awarded with 2005 Cemal Süreya Poetry Awards. These awards are conferred to in memory of Cemal Süreya (1931 – 1990), one of the most important poets in Turkish Literature. Her book Yenilgi Oyunu was published in 2006. She translated Alma Alexander’s book “The Secret of Jin-shei” from English to Turkish. The book was published in Turkish in 2007. Her poems, translations (poems and stories), poetic articles, book reviews and interviews with foreign writers (e.g. Eileen Gunn, Karen Joy Fowler, Yiyun Li, Anna Tambour, Monica Arac de Nyeko etc.) have been published in various magazines and newspapers. She worked on the poetry of Anne Sexton, Sara Teasdale, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Slyvia Plath, and translated their poems. She was elected two times as a board member of Writers Syndicate of Turkiye. She is a member of Turkish PEN.She was the producer and presenter of the culture and literature broadcast (radio) “Yazın Küresi”. She has been conducting many theatre activities in various positions (actress, director, theater electrician, etc.) for years.

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