Azmi Aytaç used both syllabic metre and aruz, the quantitative metre of classical Ottoman poetry; he was involved in Turkish music and lived to see at least one of his poems set to music. His full name is Azmi Cemal Aytaç; he was born on 15 December 1931 in Merzifon. His six books of poetry came out in quick succession after he had passed the age of sixty-five. Everything published about him comes from a single dictionary entry, and nothing below goes beyond what it says.

Life

He is the son of Şaziye Hanım and the builder Ali Rıza Aytaç. He finished primary school in Amasya; the source gives no information on his later education or on the work he did. His interest in Turkish music led him to the Turkish Music Group of the Ankara Faculty of Medicine, of which he became a member. When the entry in the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü was written in 2019, he was living in Ankara. The entry gives no date of death, and no later information has been found.

The same entry lists other signatures besides his name: Fişekçi, Abdi Selami Çarıklıoğlu and Zeynullah Naci Uykusuz. It does not say in which writings or in which years they were used. Most of the names have a comic ring; whether Aytaç published humorous pieces or poems under these signatures cannot be told from the source.

Connection with Amasya

He was born in Merzifon and attended primary school in Amasya. He also made his first appearance as a poet in his home town: his first poem, "Şimden Gerû", was published in 1957 in the newspaper Merzifon. The title is an Old Anatolian Turkish expression meaning "from now on, henceforth"; the poem itself is not quoted in the source. His adult life, as far as can be told, was spent in Ankara; there is no record of what relationship he kept up with Merzifon in later years.

Poetry

Copyright note: Aytaç's poems are in copyright, so none of them can be given a page of its own. Since the sources give no date of death, the year in which protection ends cannot be calculated either. Not a single poem of his appears in the sources consulted, so this section has no quotation.

According to the entry, Aytaç regards himself as a man without schooling or culture; its author, Gülşen Karakuş, says that this modesty is reflected in his poems as well. His use of both syllabic metre and aruz places him in a position between folk poetry and the older classical poetry, trying his hand at both. The entry, which finds his language clean and fluent, notes that some of his poems were considered suitable for setting to music. The known example is "Uşşak Divanı": the poem was set to music by Faruk Şahin, and the composition won an award. Uşşak, in the title, is the name of one of the most widely used makams (melodic modes) of Turkish music, and taken together with his years in the music group it hardly looks like a coincidence. The source does not give the name or the year of the award.

All his books were printed in Ankara, either by Ayrıntı Matbaası or at the poet's own expense. No critical article about these books could be found.

Works

  • Poetry: Kardelenler Açınca (Ankara: Ayrıntı Matbaa, 1996), Kördüğüm (Ankara: Ayrıntı Matbaa, 1997), Arabaya Taş Koydum (Ankara: self-published, 1999), Güz Dökümü (Ankara: Ayrıntı Basımevi, 2000), Mendirek (Ankara: self-published, 2002), Kördüğüm II (Ankara: self-published, 2005).

Chronology

1931: Born in Merzifon on 15 December.

1957: His first poem, "Şimden Gerû", appears in the newspaper Merzifon.

1996: His first book, Kardelenler Açınca, is published.

2005: His last known book, Kördüğüm II, is printed.

Bibliography

  • Gülşen Karakuş, "Azmi Aytaç", Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, 25.11.2019 (updated 19.12.2020). https://teis.yesevi.edu.tr/madde-detay/aytac-azmi
  • Murat Yalçın (ed.), "Aytaç, Azmi", Tanzimat'tan Bugüne Edebiyatçılar Ansiklopedisi, vol. 2, Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2010, p. 162 (as quoted by Karakuş).

Online sources