His first poem, "Düştanbul" (Dreamstanbul), was published in 1982 and followed by a number of collections. He has also written poems in the Bartin dialect and in other Turkic languages, and has brought a modern approach to to the classical Ottoman rhyme, aruz, in his book Kara Yazılı Meşkler (Tunes Written on the Snow, 2003). He has published a critical essay on the modern mystical poet saf Hâlet Celebi, collected works of the forgotten poet Halit Asım, and translated the poetry of Osip Mandelstam and C. P. Cavafy into Turkish. He was awarded the Yunus Nadi Prize in 1991, the Behcet Necatigil Poetry Prize in 2004, and the Dionysos Prize in 2005. His publications include Yeis ile Tabanca (Despair and Pistol, 1986), Hayal Kumpanyası (The Troop of Imagine, 1990), Kır Ağı (Hoarfrost, 1991), Gül ve Telve (Rose and Coffee Grinds, 1997), Şehirde Sansar Var! (There is a Marten in Town!, 1999), Kitap, bitti! (The Book is Over!, 2003), Kitaplar (Books, collected poems, 2003), Yağmur Taşı (The Rainstone, 2004), and Vâridik, Yoğidik (Once We Were, We Weren't, 2006).