Prepared by: Bige Örer, Ömer Şişman
Publication Date: August 26, 2025
Language: Turkish
Number of Pages: 96
Cover Type: Paperback
Paper Type: Book Paper
Dimensions: 15 × 21 cm
Poetry Raises Its Voice for Animals
As The Four-Legged City: Urban, Nature and Animal Studies Association, we have collaborated with 160th Kilometre to bring readers Poems for Animals — a meaningful selection that gives poetic voice to the struggle for animal rights.
The proceeds from the book will support our Rescue My Companion campaign, helping rescue, treat, and rehome animals at risk in various cities across Türkiye.
Prepared with the vision of a compassionate and just life shared with animals, the book is edited by Bige Örer, Director of Campaigns and Global Programs, and Ömer Şişman. It brings together poems by twenty-one leading contemporary Turkish poets.
Through these poems, the joy born from coexistence between humans and nonhumans, the sorrow of loss, and the ongoing struggle for justice despite all challenges come vividly to life.
With this poetry collection, we aim to make the right to life of animals, their often-invisible existence, and the fragility of our shared world heard through the language of literature.
Each verse that reflects the joy, pain, and presence of animals invites us to rethink our perspective on their world — to cross the boundaries between species and to remember that a shared existence is possible.
Contributing poets:
Ahmet Güntan, Ali Özgür Özkarcı, Birhan Keskin, Burak Acar, Doğukan Türköz, Donat Bayer, Efe Murad, Elvin Eroğlu, Fatma Nur Türk, Hamdi Oğulhan Tünay, İlker Hepkan, İlker Şaguj, İsmail Aslan, Lâle Müldür, Levent Karataş, Liman Mehmetcihat, Mahir Taşyurt, Ömer Şişman, Selcan Peksan, Sude Öztürk, and Zafer Zorlu.
The collection also features original illustrations by artists Güneş Terkol and Güçlü Öztekin.
One of the book’s editors, Bige Örer, describes its purpose as follows:
“We dedicate this book to all animals — to those we have shared our lives with and to those who closed their eyes before we could reach them. It is a promise to create rather than destroy, to continue our shared existence.”
At a time when violence against street animals is on the rise, The Four-Legged City sees this book not only as a poetry anthology but also as a call for collective solidarity. Poems for Animals seeks to draw attention to the fragility of our companionship with animals while creating a shared memory and hope.
If Poetry Resists, Animals Will Win Too!
The slogan of 160th Kilometre — “If poetry resists, it will win!” — also resonates in our literary and cultural work.
Since 2024, The Four-Legged City’s Rescue My Companion campaign has helped rescue and rehome hundreds of animals at risk.
The proceeds from Poems for Animals will be donated to cover the treatment, care, and rehoming costs of vulnerable street animals.
Poems for Animals is available in all bookstores and on our discounted campaign page, where every purchase supports the Rescue My Companion initiative.
Email: info@dortayaklisehir.org
Address: Bozkurt Mah. Seymen Sk.
No:48/B - Şişli, İstanbul/Türkiye
