Author • Turkish literature

Kadri Öztopçu

Kadri Öztopçu was born in Samsun in 1954. He began his literary career writing poetry. His early poems were published between 1973 and 1980 in magazines such as Yeni Adımlar, Güney and Türkiye Yazıları. He worked as a copywriter and served as a lecturer at İstanbul Bilgi University. His recent poems appeared in Şiiratı and Adam Sanat, while his short stories were published in Adam Öykü and NotosÖykü (later Notos). His collected stories, published under the title Yanlış Hikâyeler (2006), quickly drew attention with their distilled life experience and mature narrative voice. The Birdman of Saklıköy (Saklıköy’ün Kuşçusu), which dramatizes the impact of distorted urbanization on nature and humanity, was his first book for young adults. His collection Kuş Oltası (2009) received the Cevdet Kudret Literary Award in the short story category in 2010. Following Yara (2013), his last book, Kimsenin Bilmediği İnsanlar (2019), was awarded the 2020 Yunus Nadi Award in the short story category. Kadri Öztopçu passed away on March 1, 2020.