Yaşar Kemal
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Yaşar Kemal (born Kemal Sadık Gökçeli) is one of the best known Turkish writers. He was born in 1923 in Hemite (now Gökçedam), a hamlet in the province of Osmaniye in southern Turkey. His parents were poor Kurdish emigrants from Van.[link] Kemal had a traumatic childhood. He also lost one eye at an accident when his father was slaughtering a sheep on Eid al-Adha. He witnessed his father getting killed while he was praying in Mosque. Long after this unfortunate experience, he started school in a neighboring village when he was nine and he continued his formal education in Kadirli.
His first book of short stories Sarı Sıcak (Yellow Heat) was published in 1952. He was immediately noticed with the publication of Ince Memed (Memed, My Hawk) in 1955. Probably the most famous living Turkish writer, Kemal is noted for his command of the language and lyrical description of bucolic Turkish life. As an outspoken intellectual, he does not hesitate to speak on sensitive issues such as the plight in the Southeastern Turkey.
Bibliography
Stories
- Sarı Sıcak, (Yellow Heat) 1952
Novels
- İnce Memed (Memed, My Hawk) (1955)
- Teneke (The Drumming-Out) (1955)
- Orta Direk (The Wind from the Plain) (1960)
- Yer Demir Gök Bakır (Iron Earth, Copper Sky) (1963)
- Ölmez Otu (The Undying Grass) (1968)
- Akçasazın Ağaları/Demirciler Çarşısı Cinayeti (The Agas of Akchasaz Trilogy /Murder in the Ironsmiths Market) (1974)
- Akçasazın Ağaları/Yusufcuk Yusuf (The Agas of Akchasaz Trilogy / Yusuf, Little Yusuf) (1975)
- Yılanı Öldürseler (To Crush the Serpent) (1976)
- Al Gözüm Seyreyle Salih (The Saga of a Seagull) (1976)
- Allahın Askerleri (God’s Soldiers) (1978)
- Kuşlar da Gitti (The Birds Have Also Gone: Long Stories) (1978)
- Deniz Küstü (The Sea-Crossed Fisherman) (1978)
- Hüyükteki Nar Ağacı (The pomegranate on the Knoll) (1982)
- Yağmurcuk Kuşu/Kimsecik I (Kimsecik I - Little Nobody I) (1980)
- Kale Kapısı/Kimsecik II (Kimsecik II - Little Nobody II)(1985)
- Kanın Sesi/Kimsecik III (Kimsecik III - Little Nobody III) (1991)
- Fırat Suyu Kan Akıyor Baksana(Look, the Firat River is Flowing with Blood) (1997)
- Karıncanın Su İçtiği (Ant Drinking Water) (2002)
- Tanyeri Horozları (The Cocks of Dawn) (2002)
Epic Novels
- Üç Anadolu Efsanesi (Three Anatolian Legends) (1967)
- Ağrıdağı Efsanesi (The Legend of Mount Ararat) (1970)
- Binboğalar Efsanesi (The Legend of the Thousand Bulls) (1971)
- Çakırcalı Efe* (The Life Stories of the Famous Bandit Çakircali) (1972)
Reportages
- Yanan Ormanlarda 50 Gün (Fifty Days in the Burning Forests) (1955)
- Çukurova Yana Yana (While Çukurova Burns) (1955)
- Peribacaları (The Fairy Chimneys) (1957)
- Bu Diyar Baştan Başa (Collected reportages) (1971)
- Bir Bulut Kaynıyor (Collected reportages) (1974)
Experimental Works
- Ağıtlar (Ballads) (1943)
- Taş Çatlasa (At Most) (1961)
- Baldaki Tuz (The Slat in the Honey) (1959-74 newspaper articles)
- Gökyüzü Mavi Kaldı (The Sky remained Blue) (collection of folk literature in collaboration with S. Eyüboğlu)
- Ağacın Çürüğü (The rotting Tree) (Artciles and Speeches) (1980)
- Yayımlanmamış 10 Ağıt (10 Unpublished Ballads) (1985)
- Sarı Defterdekiler (Contents of the yellow notebook) (Collected Folkloric works) (1997)
- Ustadır Arı (The Expert Bee) (1995)
- Zulmün Artsın (Increase Your Oppression) (1995)
Children's Books
- Filler Sultanı ile Kırmızı Sakallı Topal Karınca (The Sultan of the Elephants and the Red-Bearded Lame Ant) (1977)
Other Awards and Distinctions
- Choix du Syndicat des Critiques Littéraires pour le meilleur roman etranger (Eté/Automne 1977) pour Terre de Fer, Ciel de Cuivre (Yer Demir, Gök Bakır).
- Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger 1978 pour L'Herbe qui ne meurt pas (Ölmez Otu); Paris, Janvier 1979.
- Prix Mondial Cino del Duca decerné pour contributions a l'humanisme moderne; Paris, Octobre 1982.
- Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur de France; Paris, 1984.
- The Sedat Simavi Foundation Award for Literature; Istanbul, Turkey, 1985.
- Doctor Honoris Causa, Strasbourg University, France, 1991.
- Doctor Honoris Causa, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey, 1992.
- Lillian Hellman/Dashiell Hammett Award for Courage in Response to Repression, Human Rights Watch, USA, 1996.
External links
- Official Web site: http://www.yasarkemal.net/
- http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/kemal.htm
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