Turgay Kantürk

Turgay Kantürk was born in Istanbul in 1961. He graduated from the Theater Department at the State Conservatory of Mimar Sinan University in 1990. He performed in many plays including "Hangisi Karısı," "İkinin Biri," "On Numaralı Ev," "Papaz Kaçtı," "Yolun Yarısı" in the Dormen Theatre. He also performed in the play "Kamp 17" at the Yeditepe Actors and "Zorba" at the F. Hakan Theatre. He founded a company "Özel Tiyatro" and staged many plays. He worked with famous directors such as Haldun Dormen, Kenan Işık and Gencay Gürün. In 1991, Kantürk staged his first play "Kahvede Şenlik Var," in which he performed, at the Bakırköy Municipality Theatre. Since then he has worked as a director as well as actor at the Bakırköy Municipality Theatre. In addition to theatre plays, Kantürk has worked as an assistant film director and acted in many films.

Besides being an actor, Kantürk is a poet. He published his first poem in Oluşum journal in 1981. Since then he has published numerous articles and poems in various literary journals such as Gösteri, Argos, Şiir Atı, Yasak Meyve, Sanat Olayı, Varlık, Türk Dili, and Yazko Edebiyat. Kantürk published his first book entitled "İlk Gibi Son" in 1991. Since then, he has published many books including "Siyah Eşya" (Telos publication, 1994), "Ay için Küçük Şeyler" (Sel publiscation, 1996), "Öteki Sahne" (BDS publication, 1996), "Göl Felaketleri" (Noyirmiyedi publication ,1997), "Seçme Şiirler" (Akdeniz Bookhouse, 1999), "Tuzak Kitap" (Sel publication, 2000), "Hayat Siyah Ölüm Beyaz" (Sel publication, 2004) and "Yanlış At" (Şiirden, 2005). He has received several awards such as a second award in the Hürriyet Gösteri journal Poetry Awards (1983) and a Behçet Necatigil Poetry Award (1991). Kantürk currently works as an actor and director at the Bakırköy Municipality Theatre, where he serves as a board member and co-general art director.

Reference: turgaykanturk.com