A River Interview with Four Poets in Ant Magazine

Abstract

In 1969, Osman Saffet Arolat was editor-in-chief of Ant magazine. He met İsmet Özel, Ataol Behramoğlu, Özkan Mert, and Süreyya Berfe, young poets, writers, and revolutionaries of the period. These young people were both studying at university and interested in poetry and literature. Furthermore, due to the conditions of the time, they were fast-paced revolutionaries. They were anti-American and pro-Soviet. Arolat interviewed these four poets after a program in Istanbul. The main reason for the interview was that these four friends were preparing a magazine called Halkın Dostları (People's Friends). Arolat asked the young people their ideas and what kind of magazine they wanted to publish. The young people primarily wanted to publish Halkın Dostları (People's Friends) as a literary magazine. It was inevitable that this art would support the revolution. They opposed reactionary art and literature. They viewed right-wingers like Necip Fazıl as openly reactionary literature. However, they described the Second New Movements, such as Edip Cansever and Turgut Uyar, as covert reactionaries. The magazine "People's Friends" would emerge as a counter to all this reactionary literature, especially the Second Renewal movement. In this interview, young people expressed their views on revolutionary art and literature. The interview was published in issues 153, 154, and 155 of the magazine for three weeks.