NAZIM HIKMET POETRY FESTIVAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The second annual Nazim Hikmet Poetry festival competition is now open. The closing date is Feb. 19, so begin to think about the poems you wish to submit. For more information about the Festival, please go to www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org.

The second annual Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Festival will be held on Sunday, April 18, 2010 in Cary, North Carolina. As we bring together poets and poetry lovers, participation of area poets will be an essential part of this Festival. Interested poets are invited to submit their poems by Friday, February 19, 2010. The selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Chapbook, and the poets will be invited to read their winning poems and introduce their poetry at the Festival. Each finalist will receive an award of $100. Last year's winning poems can be found at the festival web site.The 2009 festival chapbook is available at Amazon.com.

GENERAL RULES:

Deadline: Entries received by Friday, February 19, 2010 will be considered for selection.

Submission Requirements:

(*) All entries MUST be submitted via www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org

(*) All poems submitted to the Festival must be unpublished, original works.

(*) Each poet can submit up to three poems.

(*) The poems should be in English.

(*) The selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Chapbookl. By submitting their poems, the poets grant NHPF all rights to publish the poems at these venues.

(*) After the festival, the chapbook will be available for purchase at amazon.com. The proceeds from the chapbook sales will be used to support future festivals.

(*) The poets will retain copyrights of their poems.

Selection & Notification

(*) Submitted poems will be evaluated anonymously.

(*) The contact information provided by the poets will not be disclosed to other individuals or organizations.

(*) The poets will be notified of their poem’s status by March 22, 2010.

POETRY SELECTION COMMITTEE:

John Balaban, Professor of English, Poet-in-Residence, NC State University

Kathryn Stripling Byer, 2005-2009 NC Poet Laureate

Greg Dawes, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, NC State University

Joseph Donahue, Senior Lecturing Fellow, Department of English, Duke University

Jackie Shelton Green, Piedmont Laureate

Hatice Örün Öztürk (ATA-NC Representative), Associate Professor, Department of ECE, NC State University

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS:

This event is organized by the American Turkish Association of North Carolina (www.ata-nc.org )

Organizing committee: Buket Aydemir, Pelin Balı, Erdag Göknar, Mehmet Öztürk, and Birgül Tuzlalı

Contact: contact@nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org

Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival

Last spring I was invited by Professor Mehmet Ozturk of NC State University to be a part of a special project, the first Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival . The poetry competition organized as part of this year's festival received over 250 poems from 90 poets. The poetry selection committee included, in addition to me, Jon Thompson, Joe Donahue, Greg Dawes, Erdag Goknar and Hatice Orun Ozturk. The contest received over 250 poems from 90 poets. Can you imagine the job a judge has with that many entries! Then try to imagine reaching consensus among five other judges! Eight poems were selected as winners and two poems received honorable mentions. The winning poems were submitted by Judy Light Ayyildiz, Katherine Barnes, Jeffery Beam, David Need, Pamela Richardson, Christopher Salerno, Tony Tost, and Chris Vitiello. The poems by Guney Acipayamli and Mimi Herman received honorable mentions.

Over the next few days I will be featuring work by Pamela Richardson, Guney Acipayami, and Peter Blair, who was on my list of finalists but did not make it to the final list of winners, alas. The 2010 Hikmet Festival is already being planned. And a booklet of the program and the winning poems will be published soon.


SCENES FROM THE NAZIM HIKMET FESTIVAL LAST SPRING (Photos by BORA)



Mehmet Ozturk with festival organizers and volunteers



(Winning poet Pamela Richardson chats with a member of the audience.)


Winning poet Katherine Barnes and her daughter Rebecca Tighe sample the food.

Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival: Call for Submissions

NAZIM HIKMET POETRY FESTIVAL

“To live! Like a tree alone and free, Like a forest in brotherhood”

Nâzım Hikmet Ran
Greatest Modern Turkish Poet



CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Named in honor of the distinguished Turkish poet, the Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Festival will be held for the first time
on Sunday, April 19, 2009 in Raleigh, North Carolina. This event will include Nâzım’s poetry, a look at his life,
and readings of poems by the area poets.

As we bring together poets and poetry lovers, participation of the area poets will be an essential part of this
Festival. Interested poets are invited to submit their poems to the Festival Committee by Wednesday, April 1,
2009. Selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Booklet, and the
poets will be invited to read their poems at the Festival.

More information is available at the Festival website: www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org


ABOUT NÂZIM HIKMET:

Nâzım Hikmet Ran (1902 –1963), commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet, was a Turkish poet, playwright, and novelist.
He was recognized as the first and foremost modern Turkish poet, and regarded throughout the world as one of the
greatest poets of the twentieth century for the "lyrical flow of his statements”. Described as a "romantic
revolutionary", his humanistic views are universal.

His poetry has been translated into more than fifty languages. UNESCO declared 2002 the "Year of Nâzım Hikmet"
on the occasion of what would have been his 100th birthday. He received the World Peace Prize (the USSR's
equivalent of the Nobel) in 1950. Even though he faced many challenges in his life, he always remained optimistic
about the future.

His poetry reflects his undiminishing hope for social justice, his love of life, and longing for his homeland.


ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS:

This event is organized by
American Turkish Association of North Carolina ( www.ata-nc.org ) and
Gregg Museum of Art & Design, North Carolina State University ( http://gad.ncsu.edu/ ).

Organizing committee:
Buket Aydemir, Pelin Balı, Mehmet Öztürk, and Birgül Tuzlalı

Contact: contact@nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org

Event Location: The Gregg Museum of Art & Design, Talley Student Center, NCSU




GENERAL RULES
Deadline
Entries received by Wednesday, April 1, 2009 will be considered for selection.

Submission Requirements

 All entries MUST be submitted via www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org
 All poems submitted to the Festival must be unpublished, original works.
 Each poet can submit up to three poems.
 The poems should be written in English.
 The selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Booklet which
will be distributed during the Festival.
 The poets will retain the copyright of their poems.

Selection & Notification

 Submitted poems will be evaluated anonymously and the names of the poets or their contact information will
not be disclosed to the members of the Selection Committee.
 The contact listed on the entry form will be notified of their poem’s status via e-mail by April 12, 2009.

POETRY SELECTION COMMITTEE:

Kathryn Stripling Byer, NC Poet Laureate
Jon Thompson, Professor, Department of English, NC State University
Greg Dawes, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, NC State University
Erdag Göknar, Assistant Professor of Turkish Studies, Slavic & Eurasian Studies Dept., Duke University
Joseph Donahue, Senior Lecturing Fellow, Department of English, Duke University
Hatice Örün Öztürk (ATA-NC Representative), Associate Professor, Department of ECE, NC State University

TENTATIVE FESTIVAL PROGRAM:

Opening Remarks
Greg Dawes, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages And Literatures, NC State University

Talks on Nâzım Hikmet's life and poetry:
Erdag Göknar, Assistant Professor of Turkish Studies, Slavic & Eurasian Studies Dept., Duke University
Güven Güzeldere, Associate Professor, Philosophy Department, Duke University

Nâzım reading his poetry – a recording of his voice: In Turkish with English translations available

Fazil Say’s Nâzım: An oratorical composition of one of Nâzım’s poems in Turkish with English subtitles

Poetry Reading: Nâzım Hikmet’s poetry in English

Poetry Reading: Selected poems from the entries

Refreshments

A documentary on Nâzım Hikmet's life – In Turkish with English subtitles
Blue Eyed Giant / Mavi Gözlü Dev, directed by Biket Ilhan (2007)