Nazim Hikmet

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.

Vente breve synge holde sig vågen rummer et udvalg af den store tyrkiske digter Nâzim Hikmets digte.Hikmet blev i 1938 dømt for politisk virksomhed og højforræderi ved en militærdomstol i Ankara. Fra da af til 1950 er han uden ophør politisk fange i sit lands fængsler. Denne lange periode af hans liv er kendt fra digtene han skrev dagbogsnotater kærlighedsdigte til hans kone digte til medfangerene og digte til kammerater i andre fængsler - og til dem der stadig var på fri fod.Efter løsladelsen flygtede Hikmet efter dødstrusler til Sovjetunionen. Han døde i Moskva i 1963.Nâzim Hikmet (1902-1963) gjorde tidligt oprør mod sin baggrund i den osmanniske overklasse. Efter et ophold i Moskva hvor han læste fysik kemi og fransk vendte han i 1925 hjem til Tyrkiet som medlem af det kommunistiske parti der nu var blevet forbudt hvorpå han igen måtte forlade landet. Hans andet ophold i Sovjetunionen varede til 1928 hvor han vendte tilbage til adskillige domme for politisk virksomhed og højforræderi. Efter at have siddet i fængsel fra 1937-1950 flygtede han efter dødstrusler i 1951 til Sovjetunionen. Her levede han til sin død.

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.

Nazim Hikmet's poetry combines passion and simplicity with sophistication, producing work of enduring significance. He was both a superb narrative and lyric poet; his immense and continuing popularity in Turkey testifies to his common touch. This extensive selection ranges from his epic poem 'Sheikh Bedreddin' to the moving prison poems addressed to his wife. The book is introduced by the leading expert on Turkish literature, Talat Sait Halman, former Professor of Turkish Literature at Princeton and New York Universities and currently at Bilkent University, Ankara.