Kemal Kurt

Kemal Kurt (born October 29, 1947 in Çorlu / Turkey ; † October 21, 2002 in Berlin-Schöneberg ) was a writer , translator and photographer .

Life

Kemal Kurt studied from 1966 to 1972 in Turkey and the USA , from 1975 in Berlin and in 1983 obtained his doctorate in "Physical Engineering" at the TU Berlin.

His creative career began in 1977 with artistically ambitious photographs, which were followed by the first book publications in 1981. From 1990 he shifted his focus to writing and went on reading tours as a freelance writer throughout Germany as well as in Poland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Turkey, Switzerland, South Africa and the USA.

Kemal Kurt's heart of his work was, not least, storytelling for children, initially mainly on the radio , especially for the SFB's "eared bear" series, which was broadcast by several ARD channels at the same time .

For adults he has written poetry , essays , short satirical prose and novels. What should be emphasized here is What is the plural of home? (1995), a reflection “without empty words and bloated phrases” of his ambivalent relationship to Turkish origins and the German way of life, as well as his satirical novel Ja, says Molly (1998), in which he settles, among other things, with the “literature business”. For some time now, Kemal Kurt's books have also been an integral part of the curriculum at several US universities.

The photo archive left by Kemal Kurt contains 20,000 images. Still conceived by himself as a traveling exhibition with photos and poems, Menschen.orte is part of current presentations thanks to his estate administrators.

Kurt died of cancer on October 21, 2002. He was the father of two daughters and was married to the cultural scientist Hildegard Kurt . For decades he lived in Berlin-Schöneberg until his death .

Awards / grants

• 1991: Scholarship from the Prussian Sea Trade Foundation
• 1996: WDR , RB and SR named on the spring 1996 best list
• 1997: Picture Book of the Month December of the German Academy for Children's and Young People's Literature
• 1999: Residence grant at Villa Aurora , Los Angeles
• 2000: Scholarship from the Prussian Sea Trade Foundation

Further writing stays in Hawthornden Castle ( Scotland ), in Waves of Three Seas ( Rhodes ) and in the Centrum for Arts & Creative Education ( Port Townsend ).

Works

Books

Poetry, photos and prose

• Images of a childhood . Narration and photos. Express-Edition, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-88548-499-4 .
• Mock poems / Şiirimsi . Poems German / Turkish. Express-Edition, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-88548-498-6 .
• At the next note . Poems. Illustrations Abuzer Guler. Edition Mariannenpresse , Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-922510-47-7 .
• What is the plural of home? Essay. Rowohlt Verlag , Reinbek 1995, ISBN 3-499-13520-5 .
• Yes, says Molly . Novel. Hitit Verlag , Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-924423-34-2 .
• people.locations - photos and poems 1977–1999 . Hitit Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-924423-37-7 .
• The Chinese from Schöneberg . Stories. Hitit Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-924423-40-7 .

(Co-) editorships

• ... because we are Turks /...Turk olduğumuz için . Add. with Erika Meyer. Photos and texts; German Turkish. Express-Edition, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-88548-008-5 .

Books for children and young readers

• When the Meddah comes . Turkish fairy tales for children. Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-7915-1162-9 .

School book. Ernst Klett Verlag , Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-12-262150-9 .

• Seven rooms full of wonder . Children's book (also in NL). Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-7915-1163-7 .

Dutch (Yvonne Kloosterman): Zeven kamers vol wonderen. La Rivière, Baarn, 1997, ISBN 90-384-1153-7 .

Turkish: (Kemal Kurt): Yedi Odalı Bir Ev. Doğan Kardeş (Children's and Youth Magazine), Istanbul , 1992

• The five fingers and the moon . Picture book. Illustrations: Aljoscha Blau . Nord-Süd Verlag Gossau-Zürich 1997, ISBN 3-314-00824-4 .

English (Anthea Bell): The Five Fingers and the Moon

French (Géraldine Elscher): La lune et les cinq doigts

Greek:

Dutch (Toby Visser): Vijf vingermannetjes op de maan

• The children of the moon hill . Children's book. Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-7915-1164-5 .
• When the camel was the lifeguard . Turkish fairy tale. Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-922825-64-8 .
• Cora the Corsair . Children's book Hamburg 1998, ISBN 3-7915-1165-3 .
• A really crazy night . Children's book. Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-357-00905-6 .

Korean:

• Yunus . Large format knee book. Berlin-Munich 2001.

Danish: Det er mig

Luxembourgish: Dat sinn ech

Dutch: Dit ben ik

• The botched spells . Children's book. Gossau - Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-314-00947-X .

English (Marianne Martens): Mixed-up Journey to Magic Mountain

Italian (Andrea Passannante): Il mago pasticcione

French (Michelle Nikly): Demi-tour de magie

Dutch (Christine Kliphuis): De mislukte toverspreuk

• The sun drinkers . Youth novel. Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-357-00519-0 .

Translations: German-Turkish

• Bahman Nirumand , Belge Yayınları : Iran - flowers wither behind the bars , Rowohlt, Reinbek 1985, ISBN 3-499-15735-7 in İran - Soluyor Çiçekler Parmaklıklar Ardında , Istanbul 1988
• Hans de Beer :
  • Little Polar Bear, where are you going? in Küçük beyaz ayı nereye gidiyorsun? Picture book, Gossau-Zurich 1994
  • Little polar bear, help me fly! in Küçük Beyaz Ayı, Yardım Et Uçayım! Picture book, Gossau-Zurich 1999.
  • Little polar bear, do you know the way? in Küçük Beyaz Ayı Yolu Biliyor Musun? Picture book, Gossau-Zurich 2001.
• Marcus Pfister :
  • The rainbow fish to Gökkuşağı Balığı - picture books, Gossau-Zürich 1994.
  • The rainbow fish makes peace in Gökkuşğı Balığı Barışıyor - picture books, Gossau-Zurich 1998.
  • The rainbow fish overcomes its fear in Gökkusağı Balığı Korkusunu Yeniyor - picture books, Gossau-Zürich 2000.
  • Rainbow fish come help me! in Gökkusağı Balığı, Bana Yardım Et! - picture books, Gossau-Zurich 2000.

Translations: Turkish-German

• with V. Augustin and E. Giere: Gülten Dayıoğlu: Bite your teeth. Berlin 1981.

Reference book

• A non-linear thermo-viscoelastic material equation for simple substances with small distortions and temperature changes . Dissertation , Technical University of Berlin , Berlin 1983

Non-fiction

• Because it's just a child / Çocuk deyip de geçme . Volumes 1 to 9 (according to the German National Library ). Parents letters. Translation into German: Hildegard Kurt . Arbeitskreis Neue Erziehungs eV, intercultural work with parents, Berlin 2000–2002, previous editions from around 1999

TV scripts

• to the ZDF series Karfunkel - stories with children from all over the world:
  • Open the suitcase, Mr. Özyurt! (D: Thomas Dräger), 1991.
  • Secret Christmas . (D: Yasemin Akay), 1992.
  • Can and Oleg . (D: Yasemin Akay) 1994.
  • On the trail of Lakatosch . Children's feature film. (D: Alejandro Quintano) 1994.

broadcast

Autobiography, essays, short stories, commentaries, live lectures

• I can't look you in the eye anymore . Narrative. WDR 1985.
• The Chinese from Schöneberg / The interpreter of dreams . Stories. Radio 100 , Berlin 1988
• No incidents at the border crossing point / Faralya . Stories. Literature on 1, RIAS 1988
• The crux with the language . Series of Passages, SFB 1992.
• A life in Anatolia . SDR 1992
• Live presentation of own poems with the musician Hasan Kuzu . Entertainment on Saturday, WDR 1992–1993
• The opinion at the breakfast . Bi-weekly comments of 3 minutes each. SFB 1994–1998
• Aziz Nesin - Turkey's sleepless conscience . Series Wortspiel, DeutschlandRadio 1995
• Author portrait . Domino series, HR , 2001

Stories for children

• From the moon hill . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1989.
• A house with seven rooms . Series Ohrbär , SFB 1990
• Back in Aytepe . Series of Passages, SFB 1990.
• A journey from A for Aitmatow to Z for Zuckmayer . Series of Passages, SFB 1991.
• Finger stories . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1991.
• When the camel was a crier and the flea a barber . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1992.
• Keloglan's pranks . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1993.
• A stroll through Istanbul . Series Panther and Co, DeutschlandRadio 1995.
• More from the moon hill . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1995.
• Journey to the magic mountain . (Children's radio play) Lilipuz series, WDR 1995
• The girl who loved puzzles . Series Panther and Co, DeutschlandRadio 1995
• The wonderful journeys of Paula Pumpernickel and Strawberry Shortcake . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1996.
• Cora the Corsair . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1997.
• Hakan and the little bear . Series Ohrbär, SFB 1998.
• When the camel was the lifeguard . Domino series, HR, 2000.

Posthumous publications and adaptations

• A really crazy night . Audio book. Speaker: Uta Kroemer. RADIOROPA audio book, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86667-620-6 .
• The sun drinkers . Audio book. Speaker: Ari Gosch. RADIOROPA audio book, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86667-623-7 .
• Ulrich Karger (Ed.): Letters from Kemal Kurt (1947–2002) - with comments, obituaries and reviews . TB original edition. Edition Gegenwind - Create Space , North Charleston 2013, ISBN 978-1-4818-7999-6 .

See also

• German-Turkish literature
• List of German-Turkish writers

swell

1. ↑ See review on What is the plural of home? by Helmut Esslinger in Die Brücke , online at www.kemalkurt.de
2. ↑ See review of Ja, says Molly u. a. by Ulrich Karger in Der Tagesspiegel of November 1, 1998, online at www.kemalkurt.de
3. ↑ Information on presentations from the touring exhibition Menschen.orte at www.kemalkurt.de
4. ↑ villa-aurora.org Villa Aurora fellows in the 1999th
5. ↑ to letters to parents: DNB 964721449 .
6. ↑ Jeannette Goddar: Turkish parents should be made transparent about the concept of upbringing that has grown in industrialized nations. In: Der Tagesspiegel . September 21, 1999, online at tagesspiegel.de , accessed on November 14, 2014.

Web links

• Literature by and about Kemal Kurt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Kemal Kurt Archive
• Annotated link collection ( memento from February 21, 2016 in the web archive archive.today ) of the University Library of the Free University of Berlin