Nedret Çelen, a primary school teacher, published her first book of poems only after she had retired from teaching. She had taught for many years in different towns of Anatolia and, once retired, joined a poetry workshop in İzmir; Karanlığın Ay Yüzü (The Moon Face of Darkness) came out in 2018. Merzifon is her birthplace; she was born there on 25 July 1960. What is known of her rests on the dictionary entry Gülben Kocabıçak wrote after interviewing her in 2018.

Life

She attended primary school in Merzifon. During her middle school years the family moved to Suluova because of her father's post. In 1974 she entered the Yozgat Teachers' School, finished high school at the Amasya Teachers' High School and graduated from the Sinop Institute of Education in 1980. She worked as a primary school teacher in Erzincan, Eskişehir, Malatya, Merzifon and İzmir. In 1990 she also completed the Turkish Teaching Department of the Open Education Faculty of Anadolu University. When her entry in the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü was published at the beginning of 2019, she was living in İzmir.

Connection with Amasya

Çelen's childhood and youth were spent within the province of Amasya: she was born in Merzifon and went to primary school there, finished middle school in Suluova and high school in Amasya. Merzifon is also among the towns where she taught, which means that she returned for a time to the district of her birth as a teacher, although the source does not say in which years she served there.

Poetry

Copyright note: Çelen is a living poet, and because her poems are protected by copyright they do not have pages of their own on this site. The entry relied on here does not reproduce any of her poems either, so no quotation could be given.

Çelen's idea of poetry, as reported in her own words in the entry, is a teacher's idea. She says that since childhood she has examined human behaviour, and that she sees poetry as a way of pulling people back from the precipice of evil and of making life more beautiful. The same place records that throughout her career she tried to teach her pupils about life through poetry.

By her own account she at first wrote only with the knowledge her training as a teacher had given her. After retirement she joined the Karşıyaka Poetry Workshop directed by Veysel Çolak. Her poems appeared in Şiiristan, the magazine published by the workshop: "Dostun Varsa" (If You Have a Friend) in the issue of 21 March 2007, "Cinayetin" (Your Murder) in the summer 2008 issue and "Gülhatmi" (Hollyhock) in the summer 2018 issue. The dates suggest that she retired before 2007; the entry does not say so separately.

Karanlığın Ay Yüzü, published in Istanbul by Hayal Yayınları in 2018, deals mainly with the theme of hope. According to the author of the entry, Gülben Kocabıçak, Çelen dwells in this book on the social problems that lead individuals astray and tries to show that even a light that seems very weak may have the power to overcome darkness. The title of the book carries the same idea: the bright face of the moon within darkness. No review of the book has come to light.

Works

  • Poetry: Karanlığın Ay Yüzü (Istanbul: Hayal Yayınları, 2018).
  • Poems published in magazines: "Dostun Varsa" (Şiiristan, 21 March 2007), "Cinayetin" (Şiiristan, Summer 2008), "Gülhatmi" (Şiiristan, Summer 2018).

Chronology

1960: Born in Merzifon on 25 July.

1974: Enters the Yozgat Teachers' School.

1980: Graduates from the Sinop Institute of Education.

1990: Completes the Turkish Teaching Department of the Open Education Faculty.

2007: "Dostun Varsa" is published in Şiiristan.

2018: Her first book, Karanlığın Ay Yüzü, comes out.

Bibliography

  • Gülben Kocabıçak, "Nedret Çelen", Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, 04.01.2019 (updated 19.12.2020). https://teis.yesevi.edu.tr/madde-detay/celen-nedret
  • Gülben Kocabıçak, interview with Nedret Çelen, 26 September 2018 (as quoted by Kocabıçak).

Online sources