Born in 1977 Pelin Batu is a Turkish actress, historian and a bilingual poet. She studied Literature and Drama in New York University and History in Boğaziçi University where she also completed her master degree in Western Languages and Literatures. She played in various movies and TV shows and hosted a history TV programs. She also teaches in School of Life İstanbul.
Her first poetry book “Glass” published in 2003 with Yapı Kredi Yayınları followed by her second poetry book “The Book Of Winds”. “Resim Defteri” is a collection of her visual works among with poetic rhythms and “Labirentin” is another volume of poetry of hers. I will be focusing on Batu’s last poetry book “It All Began With A Story/ Her Şey Bir Hikaye İle Başladı” published by İnkılap Kitabevi in 2018.
Pelin Batu thinks and writes in English, then she translates her work into Turkish and displays them both in her poetry books. “It All Began With A Story” is a bilingual poetry book as well. Consisting of four chapters and three hundred nineteen pages in total, it is divided in four chapters; Gods & Men, Flora & Fauna, Stars & Dust, Arts & Vita. Poems focus on mythology, history, aesthetics and humanity in general.
“ ‘Cleanliness is godliness’ sayest they
but I like them
earthly
as can be,”
From Kybele, Lilith, Salome to Scheherazade mythological and historical figures are dominant throughout the book. References might sometimes be hard to fully comprehend however if you are into mythology and antiquity, the pleasure of poetry doubles itself and turns into a colorful carnival of stories.
The technique is alluring as well. The delicate sound games, using paper as canvas from time to time; playing with the installations of the verses, soft musical touches and a sense of peace embodies the foundation of her poems. Magical atmospheric imagery combined with conceptual metaphors, and careful observations on nature and mundane beauties enhance her poetry.
Batu, mixes classical tone of poetry with her post-modern rhythmic world and comes up with nostalgic texture. Mingling with myths she bends and recreates everything she has seized around and within her. From funny fruits, black birds to femininity as if everything whether abstract or concrete deserves a poem of its own. Her linguistic taste creates a rare reality and once the reader let themselves perceive it, verses flow fluently.
“caught between realism and abstraction
his bluest of skies bid ‘good morning’
a translucent paper
that is my spirit
before flight.”
It All Began With A Story differs from other Turkish poetry books and brings a new drive since Pelin Batu’s literary background is rooted in Classical and Western literature and all poems written in English, taste of world literature floats around throughout the book.
Examining her inspiration of this book, I came close to the idea of “strength of fragility”. There is a pleasing power in aesthetics that we all easily recognize whether coming from a tree, or from an alluring voice or a moment of awareness. This particular sense is hard to put in words while it is so familiar and amusing. Pelin Batu captures this sense in her authentic way and she flashes a puissant power that flourishes from fragility, curiousness, and imagination and she invites the reader to this particular power that lies within us all. Because It All Began With A Story.
“Lest our hero be reading this,
let this be your talisman
empowering you
with a power
you forgot
you had.
It can be done.
It can be done.
Sons and daughters of the sickle,
it is time.”
All poems are excerpts from the book It All Began With A Story by Pelin Batu.
This is a lovely review and close-reading, one that we hardly come across in our literary world. I am thankful to Çağla Bölek and your site.
Hi Pelin, we really enjoyed learning about your work. Thank you very much for the kind words!