Poet, translator, and scholar.

Selim Temo was born on 27th April 1972 in the village of Mêrîna in Êlih (Batman). He completed elementary school in the village and middle school in Batman. In 1992, he began his studies in the Ethnology Department in Ankara University at the same time as he started publishing his literary work. He received his master’s and PhD degrees in the Department of Turkish Literature, Bilkent University (with the thesis title, “Literatization of the Body in Cemal Süreya’s Poetry” in 2003 and with the dissertation title, “The Province in Turkish Poetry: 1859-1959” in 2009). In 2009, he became an assistant professor at Mardin Artuklu University and undertook the initiative of establishing the Department of Kurdish Language and Literature. However, due to the state’s refusal to grant Kurdish Language and Literature a departmental status, he resigned from his committee position. In 2011, he was a visiting professor in the Centre for Kurdish Studies at the University of Exeter, England. He worked as a columnist for Radikal newspaper between 2013 and 2014. His poetry and other literary works have been translated into German, Azeri, Flemish, French, English, Kurdish (Kurmanjî, Sorani, and Kirmanjkî), and Turkish.

Works:

Poetry:

Ah! Tamara (O, Tamara), Suteni Press, 1995 (fifth edition published by Agora Library, 2011)

Kırgın Nehirler Meseli (The Maxim of Crestfallen Rivers), Suteni Press, 1996 (fourth edition published by Agora Library, 2011)

Uğultular (Hummings), Avesta Press, 2000 (third edition published by Agora Library, 2011)

Bis (Bis), Agora Library, 2011 (the entire collection of his Turkish poems, including Jübile (Jubilee))

Sê Deng (Three Voices), Agora Library, 2011

Novel:

Çiftlere Cinayet Dersleri (Murder Lessons for Couples), Halkevleri Press, 1998

Anthology:

Kürt Şiiri Antolojisi (Anthology of Kurdish Poetry), Agora Library, 2007 (the second edition, 2011)

Children’s books:

Serê Şevê Çîrokek (A Story a Day), a series consisting of 12 books, Diyarbakır Sur Municipality Press, 2006-2010

Translations:

Amidabad: Göç, Çocuk, Irmak (Amidabad: The Exodus, the Child, and the River), Fawaz Husên, short story, Avesta Press, 2005

Solgun Romans (Withered Romance), Firat Cewerî, selected short stories, Avesta Press, 2005

Abdalın Bir Günü (One Day of a Wandering Dervish), Mehmed Uzun, novel, İthaki Press, 2005

Sen (Thou), Mehmed Uzun, novel, İthaki Press, 2006

Yaşlı Rindin Ölümü (The Death of an Old Sage), Mehmed Uzun, novel, İthaki Press, 2006

Yitik Bir Aşkın Gölgesinde*(In the Shadow of a Lost Love), Mehmed Uzun, novel, İthaki Press, 2006

Aşk Gibi Aydınlık Ölüm Gibi Karanlık* (Bright As Love, Dark As Death), Mehmed Uzun, novel, İthaki Press, 2006

* After these last two translations were re-issued three times, the publisher began to publish older translations done by someone else.

Research and Scholarly Work:

Türk Şiirinde Taşra (The Province in Turkish Poetry), Agora Library, 2011

Ruhun Bedeni (Body of the Soul), newspaper articles, Agora Library, 2014

Uzak Komşu: Kürt ve Türk Şiiri İlişkileri (Distant Neighbour: Relations between Kurdish and Turkish Poetry), Kriter Press, 2015

Transliteration:

Ne Ba Min Siwar Dike, Ne Ax Min Peya Dike (Neither Wind Mounts Me, Nor Soil Lands Me), the transliteration of the entire collected poetry of Mueyed Teyîb from the Arabic alphabet to the Latin, Avesta Press, 2014

Editorial work:

Rojên Wêjeya Kurdî (The Days of Kurdish Literature), co-edited with Îbrahîm Seydo Aydogan, Hakkari University Press, 2011

Awards:

The Yaşar Nabi Nayır Poetry Prize, 1997

The Halkevleri Novel Prize, 1998

The Lights of 2011, The Hrant Dink Foundation

Contact information:

Email address: selimtemo@gmail.com