A trilingual poetry performance by Mehmet Yashin

Mehmet Yashin presents the trilingual poetry performance “An Other Word”, followed by a conversation and book signing. The event is part of a series of cultural and artistic events presented over eight months in Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, and England to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Yashin’s first published poetry book My Love the Dead Soldier.

Mehmet Yashin’s poems have been published in Turkish-Cypriot newspapers since 1973, in Greek-Cypriot newspapers since 1977, in literary magazines in Turkey since 1979, and in Greece, England, and other European countries since the 1980s. His works have been translated into 24 languages, published in book form in eleven countries, and read in 43 countries. He has collaborated with musicians, theatre groups, and film directors, and created various interdisciplinary projects, particularly poetry installations, which he has exhibited in France, Portugal, Brazil, Lebanon, Russia, and Cyprus, including one that is now part of a museum collection in Belgium.

Biography
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Mehmet Yashin was born into a cosmopolitan Nicosian family that was deeply affected by the inter-communal conflicts that continued throughout his childhood. Their house in Neopolis was burnt down by Greek extreme nationalists, and he lived as a refugee together with his single mother. In 1976, he left Cyprus for Turkey. He studied political science, history, languages, and literature in Ankara, Istanbul, Athens, Birmingham, and London, and received a doctorate. Because of his opposition to the division of Cyprus, his Academy Prize-winning first poetry book was banned in 1985 in Istanbul, and he was arrested and deported from Turkey from 1986 to 1993. His first novel was published and also won a prestigious award after he returned to Istanbul in 1995. His literary study on 3,000 years of multilingual Cypriot poetry and cultural identity was awarded again in Istanbul by various academic institutions in 2005. He lived between Cambridge, Istanbul, and Nicosia for a long period, and since 2017 he has been based in Athens, London, and Nicosia. He has published eleven poetry collections, four novels, six literary studies, essays, and collections of interviews which have been made into many editions and translated into 24 languages. He became one of the most well-known poets and authors from Cyprus in international literary circles.

Video Chapters:
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00:00:00 Introduction
00:05:13 Heimatlos
00:16:53 Το παιδί και το δέντρο / Çocuk ile Ağacı / The Child and His Tree
00:17:44 Το τραγούδι του αγαπημένου μου / Sevgilimin Türküsü / Song of My Love
00:20:28 Καιρός πολέμου / Savaş Zamanı / Wartime
00:26:52 Της γάτας μας ο μύθος / Bizim Kedi / Our Cat’s Tale
00:28:03 Ένα παραμύθι του δρόμου μας / Sokağımızın Masalı / A Tale of Our Street
00:28:52 Νυχτερινό λεωφορείο / Gece Otobüsü / Night Bus
00:31:20 Υπομονετικές γυναίκες / Sabırlı Kadınlar / Patient Women
00:36:01 Θέλω Πιέρο να με σκοτώσεις / Piero Beni Öldürmeni İstiyorum / Piero I Want to Die at Your Hands
00:37:37 Coca-Cola Coke