Fatma Aras had to hide poems she wrote for many years due to social and family pressure. But she never gave up writing poems. She attended a poetry workshop and shared her poems. A year later, she published her first poetry book called, “Saklıyım (I am hidden)”. Then, she wrote many poetry books but she never forgets her first book, “I was like I was holding a newborn baby in my arms. It was like a sense of motherhood.”

ZEYNEP PEHLİVAN

İzmir- This time I visited the house of poet and writer Fatma Aras. All cafés and restaurants have been closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but she invited me to her house. She has a warm and friendly voice. She also cooked Iğdır (a city of Turkey) pilaf for me. Aside from her hospitality, she is a hyperactive and exultant woman but she has to stay at home for months due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Those who have a special interest in poetry usually know Fatma Aras through her poetry books such as “Göğü Azalan Kuşlar”, “Saklıyım” “Söz ve Hançer” or “Ağrılı Beklemeler”. She signed one of her books for me. She told me her story from Iğdır to İzmir.

“Every sentence of women sounded like a sonnet”

Fatma Aras was born in the Yukarı Aratan village of Iğdır’s Aralık district on February 25, 1954. As she said, it is a place at the foot of Mount Ararat, next to Aras River, on the border of three different countries. Some of her relatives moved to the Soviet Union, and others stayed in the village. She spent her childhood listening to the laments of women in the village.

“Each word told by the women sounded like a sonnet for me. When I was a child, I always focused on them. I was among people who told poems to their relatives in the Soviet Union. My aunt Cevahir was a woman like them. I always admired her. Most of the time, I wanted to stay at my aunt’s house. I was impressed by this special culture so I began to write poems in syllabic verse when I was a fourth-grade student. I used nice imagines for a child of that age while I wrote poems in 6+5 koşma form. This is exactly how my story of writing poetry started.”

"If you wrote poems, you were thought you fell in love”

Fatma's ambition for poetry that started at an early age wasn’t welcomed by her brother at that time. “In our region, if a girl wrote a poem, the people thought that she fell in love,” said Fatma Aras. And that thought caused pressure on her.

“Due to pressures on me, I had to hide my poems in my drawer for many years. I kept writing poems even if I didn’t share them with anyone. Meanwhile, I wasn't sure whether what I wrote was a poem or not because there was no poet or someone who wrote poems around me. At that time, I could not find any books that I could read in the village. That’s why I preferred naming my first book as “Saklıyım (I am hidden)”.  Yes, I was Fatma Aras; but there was a hidden me inside me.”

Her first poetry book was published in 2008

After completing her high school education, Fatma graduated from Public Relations Department, Open Education Faculty at Anadolu University. Then she lived in Germany for a while and her first poem was published by Hurriyet Daily News in Europe. When she returned to Turkey, she began to work as a chemistry technician. In 1999, she retired from the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration Izmir Branch. In 2007, she attended a poetry workshop organized by Veysel Çolak. She began to share her poems at the workshop and her life completely changed.

“I went to Veysel Çolak's poetry workshop on the day Homer Poetry Prize was awarded in 2007. Then, I attended all courses every week. After reading my poems, our teacher said that my syllable poetry was at a high level that cannot be ignored. Thus, I published my first book. Since I wrote my poems in syllables, I felt like I was a passenger having no ticket on a ferry. I felt rejected and I focused more on writing poems in free verse. In 2012, I published my second poetry book called, ‘Göğü Azalan Kuşlar’ in free verse. Then I published my other books such as ‘Hayata Mektuplar’, ‘Ağrılı Beklemeler’, ‘Söz ve Hançer’, ‘Dağ, Su, Korku’.”

“Our women rise from the ashes”

Fatma also shows interest in different literary genres such as memoirs, stories, and letters. She writes letters to women…

“I think our women are like a phoenix. Every time, they rise from the ashes. Our women are strong; but in the region, I grew up, women keep silent due to meanings of respect in the region. And other people try to use women’s silence. Everything has changed even in my region. Today, our women are much more conscious and powerful. They can do whatever they want. For example, I never become a mother! But I always remember what I felt when my first book was published. I was extremely surprised. I was like I was holding a newborn baby in my arms. It was like a sense of motherhood. Then I published my other books and I felt good but the joy and feeling I had when my first book was published were different.”