Poetry International Poetry International
Poet

Mustafa Köz

Mustafa Köz

Mustafa Köz

(Turkey, 1959)
Biography
Mustafa Köz draws the political landscape of the Turkish peninsula while incorporating uncolloquial language into poetry: archaic words, unusual sequences, and dramatic metaphors. In his poems language is a way of taking action as well as being a complex container of our existence.
Köz, an activist, brings a political perspective into play with complex and structured poetic language. Sounds and the elements of rhythm play an important role in his poems, which mostly deal with emotions in an abstract way rather than in a lyrical tone.

Köz graduated from Atatürk Institute's Turkish Department. He studied business administration, journalism and law, and worked as a journalist, his political articles published in magazines and in prominent newspapers. He has served on the boards of many literary magazines and as a visiting poet at the Young Struga Poetry Festival and Atzo Karamanov Poetry Meeting. President of the Turkish Writers Union, Köz was the guest of honour of the Istanbul Offline Poetry Festival in 2018.
© Efe Duyan
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère