Nurduran Duman

Nurduran Duman (born Çan-Çanakkale, 23 October 1974) is a Turkish poet, writer, essayist, translator.

Life

Nurduran Duman is a Turkish poet and editor who was born in Çanakkale and lives in Istanbul. She wrote her first poem when she was 8 years old. When she was 9, she promised herself that in the future she would be a writer. She liked poetry, so became a poet. With her passion for the sea, she attended Istanbul Technical University, in the department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering and graduated as an Ocean Engineer and a Naval Architect.

Her collection of poetry Yenilgi Oyunu (The Defeat Game) was awarded the 2005 Cemal Süreya Poetry Award. This award commemorates Cemal Süreya (1931-1990), one of the most important poets in Turkish Literature. In 2010 she published a book of narrative prose, İstanbul'la Bakışmak, Salacak (Exchanging Glances With Istanbul, Salacak). Her second collection of poetry Mi Bemol (Mi Bemol) was published in 2012.

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 numerous magazines and newspapers. She has also translated into Turkish the poems of Anne Sexton, Sara Teasdale, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Slyvia Plath.

Nurduran was elected as a board member of Writers Syndicate of Turkey and is a member of Turkish PEN. She’s prepared and presented the literature programme “Yazın Küresi – Sphere of Literature” and a children literature programme named ‘Kitap Hazinesi – Treasure of the Book’ on radio and television. She has been conducting many theatre activities in various positions (actress, director, theater electrician, etc.) for years. She attended numerous national and international events in a capacity of a poetess, writer and translator. Her article about the relationship between the world peace and literature translation “Translation of Literature Means Peace” was originally written in English and appeared in the Finnish magazine Kaltio translated into Finnish by Paavo J. Heinonen.

Her poems have been translated and published in English, Finnish, Serbian, Bulgarian and Slovak languages. Recently, Nurduran Duman was featured in the American art-literature magazine BRN. The interview was conducted by Victor Hernandez Cruz, poet and Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her poem “The Lily Necked Girl” (Zambak Boyunlu Kız, translated by Scottish poet Tom Pow) was published in the magazine Gallerie (issue 28) in India. Her poem “Semi Circle” (Yarım Çember, translated by poet Andrew Wessels) was published in Colorado Review (Spring 2012) in US. And her poems “Weave of Colors”, “Voiceword”, “At That Moment”, “My Letter is an Olive Branch” (Renklerin Örgüsü, Sessöz, O An, Mektubum Zeytin Dalı, translated by poet Andrew Wesseles) were published both in Turkish and in English in Interim (Spring 2013, in Las Vegas) in US. And her poems “City Steps”, “Pour Yourself from the Cup”, “Butterfly” (Bir Kentin Adımları, Bardaktan Boşan, Kelebek) were published in the journal of California College of the Arts “Eleven Eleven” (Summer 2013, in San Francisco). BRN (New York) published her recent poems in its Fall 2013 issue. Nurduran Duman joined in Edinburgh International Book Festival as an invited editor in August 2014.

She has been conducting many theatre activities in various positions (actress, director, etc.) for years.

She’s working as the editor of the art platform Artful Living, www.artfulliving.com.tr

Awards

• Cemal Süreya Poetry Awards for Yenilgi Oyunu

Literary works

Books

• The Defeat Game - Yenilgi Oyunu (Poetry)
• Exchanging Glances With Istanbul - Istanbul'la Bakışmak, Salacak (Narrative)
• Mi Bemol (Poetry)

Book Translations

• The Secrets of Jin-shei Alma Alexander

References

• Word Express
• Nurduran Duman
• Artful Living
• Mi Bemol-Radikal Kitap
• Nurduran Duman'ın şiirleri ABD'de - Haber Türk
• Nurduran Duman'ın şiirleri İngilizcede - Milliyet Sanat
• Yasakmeyve Kitapları
• Kızlar ve Babaları
• Salacak Dünyanın Kalbi - Haber Türk
• Yenilgi Oyunu
• Bugün Bu Gece