Haldun Taner

Haldun Taner, a well-known Turkish playwright and short story writer.He was born on March 16, 1915 in Istanbul. After graduating from the Galatasaray High School in 1935, he studied politics and economy at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, until a serious health problem forced him to return to Turkey, where he graduated from the Faculty of German Literature and Linguistics in 1950. He also studied theatre and philosophy at the University of Vienna between 1955 and 1957 under the direction of Heinz Kindermann (1894–1985), an Austrian theater and literary scholar.

As a well-disciplined writer accumulating a rich blend of culture, Taner wrote a great number of stories, generally humorous; essays, newspaper columns, travel writings and theatre plays, in particular, brought him several important awards including the New York Herald Tribune Story Contest First Prize (1954), the Sait Faik Story Award (1954), the International Festival of the Humor of Bordighera Award (1969), and so on. Among his plays, the most popular is Keşanlı Ali Destanı (Epopee of Ali of Keshan). His stories have been translated into German, French, English, Russian, Greek, Slovanian, Swedish, and Hebrew.

Taner affected Turkish theater with the so-called Haldun Taner Theater named after his school of cabaret theater style. In 1967, together with Metin Akpınar, Zeki Alasya and Ahmet Gülhan, he founded the Devekuşu Kabere (“Ostrich Cabaret Theater”).

Haldun Taner died of a sudden heart attack on May 7, 1986, in Istanbul. He was laid ro rest at the Küplüce Cemetery following the religious funeral service at the Teşvikiye Mosque on May 9.

Works:

Stories: Yaşasın Demokrasi (1949),Tuş (1951), Şişhane’ye Yağmur Yağıyordu (1953), Ayışığında Çalışkur (1954), Onikiye Bir Var (1954), Konçinalar (1967), Sancho’nun Sabah Yürüyüşü (1969), Kızıl Saçlı Amazon (1970), Yalıda Sabah (1983), Plays: Günün adamı-Dışardakiler (1957), Ve Değirmen Dönerdi (1958),Fazilet Eczanesi (1960), Lütfen Dokunmayın (1961),Huzur Çıkmazı (1962), Keşanlı Ali Destanı (1964),Gözlerimi Kaparım Vazifemi Yaparım (1964), Zilli Zarife (1966), Vatan Kurtaran Şaban (1967), Bu Şehr-i Stanbul Ki (1968), Sersem Kocanın Kurnaz Karısı (1971), Astronot Niyazi (1970), Ha Bu Diyar (1971), Dün Bugün (1971), Aşk-u Sevda (19739, Dev Aynası (1973), Yâr Bana Bir, Anectode-Travel Writing-Interview:Devekuşuna Mektuplar (1960),Hak dostum Diye başlayalım Söze (1978), Düşsem Yollara Yollara (1979),Ölürse Ten Ölür Canlar Ölesi Değil (1979), Yaz Boz Tahtası (1982), Çok Güzelsin Gitme Dur (1983), Berlin Mektupları (1984), Koyma Akıl Oyma Akıl (1985), Önce İnsan Olmak (1987)

Prizes:

1953 – New York Herald Tribune International Story Competition Turkey Championship Award (Şişhane’ye Yağmur Yağıyordu)
1955 – Sait Faik Story Award (Onikiye Bir Var)
1956 – Varlık Dergisi The Most Admirable Story Writer Award
1972 – Turkish Language Association Theatre Award (Sersem Kocanın Kurnaz Karısı)
1983 – Sedat Simavi Vakfı Literature Award

Foreign Editions of Haldun Taner’s Works: