Turkish American Scientists and scholars gather to Celebrate the life and work of Famous poet Nazim Hikmet

In a first of what promises to be an annual poetry fest, Turkish American scholars gathered at the first Annual Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival held on April 19, 2009 in Raleigh, NC at Gregg Museum of Art & Design of NC State University. The festival was supported by the museum and American-Turkish Association of North Carolina and aimed at to commemorating and celebrating Nazim Hikmet’s contributions to the world of poetry. The organizers of this year's event were Buket Aydemir, Pelin Bali, Mehmet C. Ozturk and Birgul Tuzlali. The poetry competition organized as part of this year's festival received over 250 poems from 90 poets. The poetry selection committee included Katherine Stripling Byer, Jon Thompson, Joe Donahue, Greg Dawes, Erdag Goknar and Hatice Orun Ozturk.

Scholars, including Dr. Erdag Goknar, Assistant Professor of Turkish Studies, Slavic & Eurasian Studies Dept., Duke University, and Dr. Guven Guzeldere, Assistant Professor of Turkish Studies, Slavic & Eurasian Studies Dept., Philosophy Department, Duke University, discussed and analyzed features and unique aspects of Hikmet’s poetry, their significance, and their reflection of undiminishing hope for social justice, his love of life, and longing for his homeland. The festival concluded with a screening of a 2007 documentary of Nazim Hikmet’s life, “Blue Eyed Giant / Mavi Gözlü Dev, directed by Biket Ilhan” . For more details about the program and events please visit www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org/index.php?id=3