Ilhan Tarus

Tarus, İlhan 

Born 1907, in the village of Tekirdag, Anatolia; died Jan. 8, 1967, in Ankara. Turkish writer. Son of a peasant. Graduated from the department of law of the University of Ankara in 1928; became a judge and also practiced law.

Tarus’ collections of short stories, such as The Rooming House, The Dog on the Plowed Field, and The Anthill, depict Anatolian peasant life. His novels include To Be (1957), The Government Square (1962), and Longing for the Homeland (1967). At times his writing is almost naturalistic in its objectivity and frequently has an almost photographic quality to it. Tarus strongly believed that literature should serve a social purpose and that it was closely interwoven with life; to this end he wrote articles and essays for the progressive journal Varhk. He was also a well-known dramatist.

REFERENCES

Babaev, A. A. Ocherki sovremennoi turetskoi literatury. Moscow, 1959.
Utkan, Muzaffer. Bugünkü türk yazarlari. Ankara, 1960.
Mutluay, R. 100 soruda türk edebiyati. Istanbul, 1969.