Firat Demir

2021

Firat Demir (Istanbul, 1991, Kurdish descent) published his first poetry collection, Yeni Cüret Çağı, in 2012, followed by Öte Geçeler in 2015 to much critical acclaim.  A selection from Demir’s poetry translated into English by Ahmet Ergenc, the Turkish translator of William S. Burroughs’s The Wild Boys, Chuck Palahniuk’s Stranger Than Fiction, and others. Demir edited the Turkish translations of Edmund White’s selected stories Ada Öyküleri (2017) and the biography, Rimbaud: Bir Asinin Çifte Yaşamı (2017). His translation of White’s Marcel Proust biography, Marcel Proust: A Life (2019), is the first biographical study of Proust in Turkish.  Demir’s libretto, Vaccine, written in English, an adaptation from the novelist Ebru Ojen’s book of the same name, is composed by Berlin based American musician Jeremy Woodruff.  Demir is also commissioned by Istanbul Biennial to edit and write an anthology for its 13th season, a companion book named Hala Barbar mıyız? (2013). Demir’s poetry and prose appeared in other mediums, such as video art and installation, in collaborations with contemporary artists, and exhibited at several biennials and group exhibitions. Demir is now working on his first novel, written both in Turkish and English. Demir has been living in New York since 2014, where he completed his BA in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.