Nazim Hikmet, celebrated as the first modern Turkish poet, is globally recognized as one of the twentieth century's great international poets. His work, influenced by Russian Futurists, abandoned traditional forms in an attempt to "depoetize" poetry. He often explored themes of human landscapes and societal ideals through an epic style. Hikmet's distinctive voice resonates across cultures, establishing him as a significant figure in world literature.
A contemporary international classic, available in English for the first time. Hikmet's final book--an autobiographical novel about a man who is imprisoned for being a Communist, his friends, and the women he loved. Considered to be a major work in his oeuvre. This is the first publication in English translation.
Written during the Second World War while Hikmet was serving a thirteen-year sentence as a political prisoner, his verse-novel uses cinematic techniques to tell the story of the emergence of secular, modern Turkey by focusing on the always-entertaining stories of sundry characters from all walks of life. As his vignettes flash before our eyes at movie-like speed, it becomes clear he is also telling the turbulent story of the twentieth century itself and the ongoing struggle between tradition, which trusts in God, and modernity, which entrusts the world to human hands.
The definitive selection by the first and foremost modern Turkish poet. A centennial volume, with previously unavailable poems, by Turkey's greatest poet. Published in celebration of the poet's one hundredth birthday, this exciting edition of the poems of the Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) collects work from his four previous selected volumes and adds more than twenty poems never before available in English. The Blasing/Konuk translations, acclaimed for the past quarter-century for their accuracy and grace, convey Hikmet's compassionate, accessible voice with the subtle music, innovative form, and emotional directness of the originals.
Features poems that combine passion and simplicity with sophistication.