Orhan Kemal; Translated by Bengisu Rona
"A jewel of a memoir . . . beautifully translated."—Maureen
Freely
"Moving and remarkable . . . Kemal's prison memoir is a debt
of gratitude to the great man of Turkish letters, the poet
Nazim Hikmet."—Today's Zaman
Bursa prison, mid-winter 1940. Two prisoners meet, both
writers, both serving long sentences for allegedly inciting
Turkish soldiers to mutiny. One is Turkey's most famous
poet, Nazim Hikmet. The other is a young aspiring poet,
Orhan Kemal, who now shares a cell with the man whose work
he has long admired.
In this prison memoir, Orhan Kemal reminisces on the time he
shared with the great poet and describes how Hikmet inspired
him to become one of Turkey's most popular and successful
novelists.
In Jail with Nazim Hikmet also includes Kemal's diary
entries on Nazim and the latter's correspondence with Kemal
after his release from prison in 1943.
Orhan Kemal (1914–1970) was one of Turkey's most
popular novelists. He was found guilty for breach of the
penal code during his military service, and he served a
prison sentence from 1938 to 1943. From 1951 he made his
living entirely by writing—often with radical,
anti-authoritarian content. His prison memoir, Nazim
Hikmet'le Üç Buçuk Yil (Three and a Half Years with Nazim
Hikmet) was first published in Turkey in 1965. The Idle
Years was published by Peter Owen in the United Kingdom in
2008.
Bengisu Rona teaches Turkish language and literature
at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London. |
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