We Will Rebuild Everything

He attended Namık Kemal High School in İzmir. He studied at Ankara (University, Faculty of Language, History and Geography, Department of Sinology but dıd not graduate. He worked as a topographer at the Turkish Electricity Authority. He studied drama, theatre and film at the Swedish Lund University. From 1973 on, he lived in Svveden, and after 1981, he worked as a producer at the Svvedish National Radio Department of Turkish Broadcasting and as consultant at cultural institutions. Mert, who took up poetry in early 1960`s in İzmir, experienced the turmoil of the event: in `68. He became one of the pioneering rotest poets of the 60`s generation with his book Kuracağız Her Şeyi Yeniden (We Will Re-establish Everything, 1969), which was banned right after its publication. He received the Yunus Nadi Honorary Mention and ilhan Demiraslan Poetry Award in 1990, the Salihli Poetry Aftemoon `Migrant Poets` Award and Cemal Süreya Award . He is a member of the VVriters Syndicate of Turkey, the Turkish Authors Association, the Turkish PEN Association of VVriters, the Swedish VVriters Association, the Svvedish V ıters Union and the`Svvedish F ıN Gommittee for Imprisoned W ıters. His poems have been included in intenational anthologies, such as Modern Türk Şiiri (Modern Turkish Poetry) by Feyyaz Kayacan and Meeting in Svveden by Eva Dahlström.