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Death In Water

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المساهم/ة
Buğra Giritlioğlu, Alova and Alova

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CONTRIBUTOR المساهم/ة
Buğra Giritlioğlu

Buğra Giritlioğlu is a Turkish poet who holds a BS (Cornell) and MS (MIT) in Materials Science & Engineering, and an MA in Ethnomusicology (Istanbul Technical University). He has taught world music at Boğaziçi University. In addition to his two books of original poetry (2016, 2019), his translations appear in Asymptote, Chicago Review, Exchanges, Mantis (Stanford University), and Middle Eastern Literatures. His poems have been translated into Azerbaijani, Dutch, English, Georgian, Kurmanji, and Zazaki. An avid choir singer and amateur pianist, Giritlioğlu has sung with many choirs in the USA, UK (BBC Symphony Chorus), Netherlands (Laurenscantorij), and Turkey.

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Buğra Giritlioğlu
Alova

Alova (1952) studied at METU (Ankara) and Istanbul University. His first poem was published in 1973, his first book in 1980. He has authored five poetry books and a volume of collected poems (1973-2013). He has received numerous national awards, as both poet and translator (e.g., Nazım Hikmet Award). Equally prolific as a translator, Alova translated major poets, including Kavafis, Neruda, Lorca, and Catullus, into Turkish. He is currently writing his long epic poem, “First Plural Song”, whose first volume received the prestigious Yunus Nadi Poetry Award.

WORKS BY THIS CONTRIBUTOR
أعمال للمساهم/ة
Alova
Alova

Alova (1952) studied at METU (Ankara) and Istanbul University. His first poem was published in 1973, his first book in 1980. He has authored five poetry books and a volume of collected poems (1973-2013). He has received numerous national awards, as both poet and translator (e.g., Nazım Hikmet Award). Equally prolific as a translator, Alova translated major poets, including Kavafis, Neruda, Lorca, and Catullus, into Turkish. He is currently writing his long epic poem, “First Plural Song”, whose first volume received the prestigious Yunus Nadi Poetry Award.

WORKS BY THIS CONTRIBUTOR
أعمال للمساهم/ة
Alova
Poetry | شعرTranslations | ترجمات

Death In Water

By Buğra GiritlioğluAlova and AlovaFebruary 23, 2020April 2nd, 2020No Comments
"House Illustration" by Amanj Amin
by Alova, translated from Turkish by

Every night the child would seek his stars
And the Moon, which he raised with brand new names:
Cut nail, Luminous Hammock
Growwalker, Bruised Orange


When the wind would start blowing
Undulating the water’s curtain
And a callow frog tire of its own croak
And jump into the moss-scented sky,
He’d lose his stars
The Moon he raised every night
Would shatter


When the wind subsided
So that the stars took their places
And the Full Moon recollected its pieces,
The child whose eyes grew heavy
Rested his head one night
Against his pillow made of the Milky Way
And laid down to
The moss-scented stars’
Eternal sleep

"Tree Illustration" by Amanj Amin
Author

Buğra Giritlioğlu is a Turkish poet who holds a BS (Cornell) and MS (MIT) in Materials Science & Engineering, and an MA in Ethnomusicology (Istanbul Technical University). He has taught world music at Boğaziçi University. In addition to his two books of original poetry (2016, 2019), his translations appear in Asymptote, Chicago Review, Exchanges, Mantis (Stanford University), and Middle Eastern Literatures. His poems have been translated into Azerbaijani, Dutch, English, Georgian, Kurmanji, and Zazaki. An avid choir singer and amateur pianist, Giritlioğlu has sung with many choirs in the USA, UK (BBC Symphony Chorus), Netherlands (Laurenscantorij), and Turkey.

Author

Alova (1952) studied at METU (Ankara) and Istanbul University. His first poem was published in 1973, his first book in 1980. He has authored five poetry books and a volume of collected poems (1973-2013). He has received numerous national awards, as both poet and translator (e.g., Nazım Hikmet Award). Equally prolific as a translator, Alova translated major poets, including Kavafis, Neruda, Lorca, and Catullus, into Turkish. He is currently writing his long epic poem, “First Plural Song”, whose first volume received the prestigious Yunus Nadi Poetry Award.

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