By Heidi Trautmann

In the morning of March 08 I was on the lookout for people gathering at the entrance of the road that was going to be named after Filiz Naldöven, the poet. She left this level of existence in 2016 but will continue to live now through her poetry books and the street near Zeytinlik village and overshadowed by St. Hilarion. Perhaps the one or the other pedestrian will wonder who this poet was and will buy a book of hers.

The Mayor of Girne, Nidai Güngördü mentioned that she was a constantly producing artist, which as a fact is right; she lived poetry; her poetry sense was always wide open and the most unspectacular object gave her a reason to create poetic thoughts. The Mayor and Nehir Demirel, Filiz Naldöven’s daughter who herself is a successful theatre woman, a theatre director, were pulling the strings to uncover the new road plate with the name on it: ‘Sair Filiz Naldöven’.  With this inauguration the International Women’s Day was being celebrated and the Mayor attached a bunch of red carnations to the pole.

We, the guests attending, then heard some poems read by Fatoş Avcısoy Ruso and Ceyhan Özyıldız, both literary persons, before we all parted and went into different directions to continue with our own life.

My interview with Filiz Naldöven is included in my book ‘Art and Creativity in North Cyprus’ Volume II. Please click on the link to read her story.

http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=5383473713#.XHwNaMAzaUk

PS: An afterthought.... Where were the many Turkish Cypriot poets, I wondered, to honour the name giving?