Sevin Okyay

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Sevin Okyay
A close-up black-and-white portrait of an older woman smiling at the camera. Her fist is resting against her cheek, obscuring half her mouth.
Sevin Okyay (2008)
Born (1942-11-25) 25 November 1942 (age 83)
Istanbul, Turkey
OccupationsLiterary critic, journalist, writer, translator
Notable workHarry Potter translations
Children2

Sevin Okyay (born 11 November 1942, Istanbul)[1][2][3][4] is a Turkish critic, journalist, author, columnist, radio host and translator.[5][2] Best known for her translations of the Harry Potter books, Okyay is Turkey's first female film critic.[6][7][8][4][9] She writes about cinema, sports, literature and jazz[2][9] and hosts two radio shows: Caz ve Ötesi (Jazz and Beyond) and Cinayet Masası (Murder Desk).[5][10]

Early life and career

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Okyay and her younger brother Sinan were born to an architect-engineer father and a housemaker mother.[2][3] Their father was Albanian and their mother was Circassian.[2] They spent their childhood winters in Beşiktaş and the summers in Maltepe.[3] They lived with their mother following their parents' divorce when Okyay was 10 or 12.[2][3] She credits her mother with starting her love of the arts through taking her and her brother to plays and concerts, and reading to them.[11][10]

While attending Arnavutköy American High School for Girls, Okyay played basketball and volleyball. Tansu Çiller was a classmate and volleyball teammate.[2][10][3] Okyay briefly attended university before being expelled for absenteeism.[3]

Okyay has been a translator since 1963.[12][2] Her first translation was a 333-page detective novel by Georgette Heyer about a 19th-century thief in London, which she found challenging due to the slang.[2][13] She became a political correspondent for Politika in 1975 to financially supplement her translation work.[2][4] While at Politika, she was given an assignment to speak to members of the Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey. The team was leaving as she arrived and they advised her to wait for them to return. They did not. She was later arrested by police for loitering and spent four days in jail.[11] She started at Milliyet Ekler in 1983 and worked closely with Enis Batur. Batur sent her to see Federico Fellini's And the Ship Sails On in 1984;[2][3] while the job was ostensibly meant for her colleague Ömer Madra, he refused to write the column and encouraged her to do so instead. This made her Turkey's first female film critic.[4][10][5] Over the course of her career, Okyay has worked for Radikal, Dunya, Ayrıntılı Haber, Hürriyet, Gergedan, Şehir, Kapris, Star, Gösteri, Elele and Kadın.[14][9] She also translated for UNICEF's magazine.[13] She began writing about sports while working for Nokta.[3][10]

Okyay presented Ve Sinema on TRT for five and a half years.[4][10] Though she has a been involved in radio programming since 1995, with her detective program Cinayet Masası (Murder Desk) on air for 26 years as of 2024,[2] it wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic that she joined Açık Radyo and later NTV Radio to broadcast her music show Caz ve Ötesi (Jazz and Beyond).[5][10] Earlier in her career, she appeared in the 1999 film Run for Money and translated plays including The House of Bernarda Alba, Hamlet 2001 and Othello.[4][10][14]

She continues to write about cinema, literature, jazz and sports for Milliyet, 221B and BirGün, among other publications.[5][9][15] She also sits on juries for multiple associations, including the award committees for the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival,[16][3] the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts' Talât Sait Halman Translation Award,[17][18][19][3] Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival[20] and the Turkish Film Critics Association.[3] In 2017, journalist Pınar İlkiz wrote a book about Okyay's life called Hakikaten-Sevin Okyay Anlatıyor.[11]

Personal life

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Okyay married at 21[2] and had two children, son Kutlukhan Kutlu and daughter Elif Kutlu.[3][9][5] She and her spouse later divorced.[3] Kutlukhan is also a translator and worked with his mother on the Harry Potter books, while Elif directs broadcasts for NTV.[3][9] Okyay has lived in Kadıköy for more than 25 years.[5]

Awards

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Bibliography

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  • 1996: Ilk Romanim (My First Novel) - children's book[3][14][13]
  • 1996: 120 Filmde Seyriâlem (A Cinema Tour in 120 Films) - selected movie critiques[14]
  • 1998: Çiçek Dürbünü (Kaleidoscope) - collected essays[3][14]
  • 2002: Gol Atan Kaleye (Goal to the Goalkeeper) - essay[14]
  • 2010: Masal Pınarı (Fairytale Spring) - play; staged by Pınar Selek[4][10][14][28]
  • 2018: Ara Sıra Ve Daima (Sometimes and Always) - "portrait articles" about people who changed her life; originally published in Radikal[12][29][10]

Selected translations

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Okyay translated Othello and Fırtına.[3][4][10][14] She has also translated the plays Seeking for Helen and Benim Cyrenos[4][14] and the lyrics for Nuri Pakdil's play Horror.[4][10]

Original title Author Translation Publication year Publisher ISBN Notes
Tales of the Early World Ted Hughes Ilk Dünya Hikayeleri 1999 Yapı Kredi Yayınları Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [30]
Delights of Turkey Edouard Roditi Türkiye Tatlari Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [30]
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction J.D. Salinger Yükseltin Tavan Kirisini, Ustalar ve Seymour - bir Giris Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). With Coskun Yerli[30]
Animal Farm George Orwell Hayvanlar Çiftliği 2000 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [30]
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling Harry Potter ve Sirlar Odasi 2001 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [30]
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter ve Azkaban Tutsagi Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). With Kutlukhan Kutlu[30]
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter ve Ates Kadehi Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Fantastik Canavlar Nelerdir, Nerelerde Bulunurlar? 2002 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). With Gül Sarioglu[30]
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter ve Zümrüdüanka Yoldasligi 2003 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). With Kutlukhan Kutlu[30]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter ve Melez Prens 2005 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry Potter ve Ölüm Yadigarları 2007 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Death on the Nile Agatha Christie Nil'de Ölüm - Malikanedeki Esrar 2010 NTV Yayınları Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
The Secret of Chimneys
The Pony Mad Princess - a Surprise for Princess Ellie Diana Kimpton Midilli Tutkunu Prenses – Prenses Ellie'ye Sürpriz 2011 Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
The Call of Cthulhu H. P. Lovecraft Cthulhu’nun Çağrısı ve Diğer Tuhaf Öyküler 2019 DEX Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [31]
The Colour Out of Space
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
At the Mountains of Madness
Remember This House James Baldwin Ben Senin Zencin Değilim’i 2020 Kırmızı Kedi Yayinevi Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [32]

References

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  30. ^ a b c d e f g h Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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