Kemal Yalcın

Kemal Yalçın was born in the Honaz sub-district of Turkey’s Denizli Province in 1952. After finishing primary school he went to the Gönen Teacher Training School in Isparta. In 1973 he graduated from the Çapa Advanced Teachers’ College in Istanbul and the Philosophy Department of Istanbul University’s Faculty of Literature. After that, he taught philosophy at the Kaman lycée in Kırşehir and the Kabataş Lycée in Istanbul. During the years 1975-1976 he served on the General Executive Committee (Genel Yönetim Kurulu) of the Universal Education and Instruction Employees Unity and Solidarity Committee (TÖB-DER). He worked in journalism and publishing in the years 1978-1980. In 1981 he came to Germany, where, since 1989, he has worked as a Turkish instructor in Bochum. His works include: Sürgün Gülleri (‘Roses of Exile’, poetry) Geç Kalan Bahar (‘The Late Spring’, poetry) Emanet Çeyiz (‘The Security Trousseau’, novel) Bilim Tuktusu (‘Passion for Knowledge’, autobiography) Barış Sıcağı (‘The Warmth of Peace’, poetry) Sinifta Çiçek Zor Açar (‘Flowers Don’t Bloom Easily in the Classroom’, recollections, stories) Almanya’da Türkçe Anadil Eðitimi (‘Turkish Mother-tongue Education in Germany’, study) He has received the following prizes: 1991 – First Prize, poetry; Petrol-Iş Award 1996 – First Prize, poetry; Cologne Multicultural Society Award 1998 – Novel of the year, Turkish Culture Ministry 1998 – Abdi Ipekçi Special Prize for Friendship and Peace 1998 – Turkey-Greece Communications Prize