9 Best Books of Turkish Authors
Turkish literature has long faced restrictions and politicisation, blighted by state censorship and lacking of English translations of books and publishing outside of Turkey. Here, you will find a selection of the best works of Turkish autors, including Orhan Pamuk and some other names that may be less familiar.
‘Madonna in a Fur Coat’ (1943) by Sabahattin Ali
Sabahattin Ali is an important figure in Turkish literature, as much for the tragic circumstances of his death – the author was allegedly beaten to death (probably on government order) – as for his work. Originally published in 1943, this short novel has since become one of Turkey’s most widely read books, with its translation reaching many bestseller lists abroad. The plot revolves around a shy young man from rural Turkey who moves to Berlin in the 1920s, where he meets a woman who will haunt him for the rest of his life. Ali after spending of 18 months in the German capital, returning to Turkey to teach and write. Over the course of his life, he was imprisoned several times.
‘The Time Regulation Institute’ (1954) by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
While Tanpınar is known for his essays and poetry, it is for his novels that he is most celebrated. The Istanbul-born author has been hailed by colleague Orhan Pamuk as the greatest Turkish novelist of the 20th century.The novel ‘The Time Regulation Institute’ was translated to English in 2014, over 50 years after its publication in Turkey. The novel is a comic masterpiece from the master of Turkish Modernism. Couched in satire, Tanpınar’s novel is a critique of Turkey’s haphazard adaptation to Western modernisation; in it, we follow an offbeat set of characters as they attempt to ensure all the clocks in the country are set to Western time.
‘Memed, My Hawk’ (1955) by Yaşar Kemal
Yaşar Kemal was one of Turkey’s leading novelists, and his debut novel landed him a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The book ‘Memed, My Hawk’ follows the story of a young village boy named Memed who endures great cruelty from the local landowner. When his love, Hatche, is imprisoned while they both try to escape, Memed joins a band of brigands to plot out his revenge. The author’s defining work, ‘Memed, My Hawk’ as a lyrical epic of rural Turkey and its labourers.
‘Poems’ of Nâzım Hikmet (1986)
Nâzım Hikmet is one of Turkey’s most well-known poets, and his work has been translated into more than 50 languages. He spent much of his adult life in prison or exile due to his political beliefs, and it was here that he wrote much of his poetry. A leader of the Turkish avant garde, his poems tackle themes of love, national identity, Marxism and more.
‘Istanbul Boy: The Autobiography of Aziz Nesin’ (1991)
Born on Heybeliada in 1915, Aziz Nesin was one of Turkey’s most important and prolific writers, produced over 100 books. Though jailed several times due to his political views, he still managed to make a living through his work, which includes several short-story collections alongside memoirs and novels. His autobiography, published in four volumes, expresses not only the life of a great writer, but that of a whole country and its many difficulties.
‘The Museum of Innocence’ (2008) by Orhan Pamuk
Orhan Pamuk, the most read, translated and bestselling Turkish author today. In the first novel to follow his Nobel Prize win - ‘The Museum of Innocence’ delivers a tale of love-turned-obsession in. The book’s protagonist is wealthy Istanbulite Kemal, who obsessively catalogues every object, emotion and memory from his affair with 18-year-old Füsun. Kemal’s narration is akin to that of a museum tour guide, each chapter leading the reader from one sentimental display to the next (chapter titles includes ‘The Streets That Reminded Me of Her’ and ‘4 213 Cigarette Butts’). In the novel memorialised also the upper-class Istanbul of the 1970s and ’80s, a time when the city was teetering between old-world Turkey and Western modernisation.
‘Istanbul Istanbul’ (2015) by Burhan Sönmez
In the third book from Burhan Sönmez, four people incarcerated in a cell beneath Istanbul reminisce about the city above them. Their interwoven stories evoke a beautiful and multilayered Istanbul in a defiant reclamation of their city from the authoritarian rule that has landed them in captivity. Though narrated by political prisoners, the book is “not about politics’’. Sönmez told in his Culture Trip in 2016. “It’s about love, laughter, pain, hope, dreams… you know, about everything.”
‘New Selected Poems’ (2016) by İlhan Berk
İlhan Berk is an influential poet and one of the dominant figures of the Postmodern movement in Turkish poetry. Berk was also known for his translation of great poets into Turkish, such as Ezra Pound and Arthur Rimbaud. New Selected Poems is an updated version of his first collected works published in English, allowing readers outside of Turkey a glimpse into the mind of a writer renowned for his disregard for the rules.
The poems of Orhan Veli Kanik, Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet Anday
Orhan Veli Kanik, Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet (who had been friends since high school) wrote Garip: a Turkish Poetry Manifesto (in 1941), marking the beginning of a new, radical movement in the country’s poetry, which deviated from the Turkish–Ottoman tradition of prosody. Their individual works offer an essential glimpse into Turkish poetry that dared to include colloquialisms, completely changing the form for a new generation of writers.
This article is an updated version of a story created by Feride Yalav-Heckeroth.
https://theculturetrip.com/authors/feride-yalav-2/
Turkish literature has long faced restrictions and politicisation, blighted by state censorship and lacking of English translations of books and publishing outside of Turkey. Here, you will find a selection of the best works of Turkish autors, including Orhan Pamuk and some other names that may be less familiar.
‘Madonna in a Fur Coat’ (1943) by Sabahattin Ali
Sabahattin Ali is an important figure in Turkish literature, as much for the tragic circumstances of his death – the author was allegedly beaten to death (probably on government order) – as for his work. Originally published in 1943, this short novel has since become one of Turkey’s most widely read books, with its translation reaching many bestseller lists abroad. The plot revolves around a shy young man from rural Turkey who moves to Berlin in the 1920s, where he meets a woman who will haunt him for the rest of his life. Ali after spending of 18 months in the German capital, returning to Turkey to teach and write. Over the course of his life, he was imprisoned several times.
‘The Time Regulation Institute’ (1954) by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
While Tanpınar is known for his essays and poetry, it is for his novels that he is most celebrated. The Istanbul-born author has been hailed by colleague Orhan Pamuk as the greatest Turkish novelist of the 20th century.The novel ‘The Time Regulation Institute’ was translated to English in 2014, over 50 years after its publication in Turkey. The novel is a comic masterpiece from the master of Turkish Modernism. Couched in satire, Tanpınar’s novel is a critique of Turkey’s haphazard adaptation to Western modernisation; in it, we follow an offbeat set of characters as they attempt to ensure all the clocks in the country are set to Western time.
‘Memed, My Hawk’ (1955) by Yaşar Kemal
Yaşar Kemal was one of Turkey’s leading novelists, and his debut novel landed him a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The book ‘Memed, My Hawk’ follows the story of a young village boy named Memed who endures great cruelty from the local landowner. When his love, Hatche, is imprisoned while they both try to escape, Memed joins a band of brigands to plot out his revenge. The author’s defining work, ‘Memed, My Hawk’ as a lyrical epic of rural Turkey and its labourers.
‘Poems’ of Nâzım Hikmet (1986)
Nâzım Hikmet is one of Turkey’s most well-known poets, and his work has been translated into more than 50 languages. He spent much of his adult life in prison or exile due to his political beliefs, and it was here that he wrote much of his poetry. A leader of the Turkish avant garde, his poems tackle themes of love, national identity, Marxism and more.
‘Istanbul Boy: The Autobiography of Aziz Nesin’ (1991)
Born on Heybeliada in 1915, Aziz Nesin was one of Turkey’s most important and prolific writers, produced over 100 books. Though jailed several times due to his political views, he still managed to make a living through his work, which includes several short-story collections alongside memoirs and novels. His autobiography, published in four volumes, expresses not only the life of a great writer, but that of a whole country and its many difficulties.
‘The Museum of Innocence’ (2008) by Orhan Pamuk
Orhan Pamuk, the most read, translated and bestselling Turkish author today. In the first novel to follow his Nobel Prize win - ‘The Museum of Innocence’ delivers a tale of love-turned-obsession in. The book’s protagonist is wealthy Istanbulite Kemal, who obsessively catalogues every object, emotion and memory from his affair with 18-year-old Füsun. Kemal’s narration is akin to that of a museum tour guide, each chapter leading the reader from one sentimental display to the next (chapter titles includes ‘The Streets That Reminded Me of Her’ and ‘4 213 Cigarette Butts’). In the novel memorialised also the upper-class Istanbul of the 1970s and ’80s, a time when the city was teetering between old-world Turkey and Western modernisation.
‘Istanbul Istanbul’ (2015) by Burhan Sönmez
In the third book from Burhan Sönmez, four people incarcerated in a cell beneath Istanbul reminisce about the city above them. Their interwoven stories evoke a beautiful and multilayered Istanbul in a defiant reclamation of their city from the authoritarian rule that has landed them in captivity. Though narrated by political prisoners, the book is “not about politics’’. Sönmez told in his Culture Trip in 2016. “It’s about love, laughter, pain, hope, dreams… you know, about everything.”
‘New Selected Poems’ (2016) by İlhan Berk
İlhan Berk is an influential poet and one of the dominant figures of the Postmodern movement in Turkish poetry. Berk was also known for his translation of great poets into Turkish, such as Ezra Pound and Arthur Rimbaud. New Selected Poems is an updated version of his first collected works published in English, allowing readers outside of Turkey a glimpse into the mind of a writer renowned for his disregard for the rules.
The poems of Orhan Veli Kanik, Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet Anday
Orhan Veli Kanik, Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet (who had been friends since high school) wrote Garip: a Turkish Poetry Manifesto (in 1941), marking the beginning of a new, radical movement in the country’s poetry, which deviated from the Turkish–Ottoman tradition of prosody. Their individual works offer an essential glimpse into Turkish poetry that dared to include colloquialisms, completely changing the form for a new generation of writers.
This article is an updated version of a story created by Feride Yalav-Heckeroth.
https://theculturetrip.com/authors/feride-yalav-2/