Nevfel Cumart (born May 31, 1964, in Lingenfeld) is a German author, lecturer, literary translator and journalist of Turkish descent.
He grew up in Stade and attended the local grammar school Vincent-Lübeck-Gymnasium. After completing his Abitur, the general qualification for university entrance, he embarked upon an apprenticeship as a carpenter. In the winter of 1986, he started studying Turkology, Arabic studies, Persian and Islamic studies in Bamberg. He has been living as a freelance writer, speaker, translator and journalist in Stegaurach, near Bamberg, Germany, since 1993.
In 1983, he published his first of sixteen (as of 2015) poetry books, placing Cumart among Germany's most productive contemporary German poets. Having been awarded several prizes, Cumart has not only focused on poetry but has also published a collection of short stories, prose, essays and literary essays in a variety of anthologies and specialist publications. Some of his poems have been translated into Polish, Russian and Greek, with two of his poetry books appearing in a bilingual German/English edition. He has translated into German various works by Turkish authors, including Yaşar Kemal and Aziz Nesin.
Cumart has been head of the literature section of Bamberg-based magazine "Fränkische Nacht" since 1992 and is a freelance journalist working for the culture sections of German daily newspapers Fränkischer Tag and Nürnberger Nachrichten . He holds talks and runs seminars on a variety of topics such as Turkey, migration in Germany, and Islam. His readings and papers have often taken him abroad (e.g. England, Ireland, Turkey, Switzerland, Poland).
Cumart is chair of the literary society "Neue Gesellschaft für Literatur Erlangen e.V." (NGL), as well as being a member of P.E.N.-Zentrum Deutschland and the Rotary club Bamberg-Domreiter. He has a seat on the board of the German writers’ society Verband Deutscher Schriftsteller(VS), Regional Group Upper Franconia and also sits on the Academic Advisory Board of the Georges – anawati Grant, a foundation promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue.
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