WORKS




Nazim Hikmet's first book of poems was published in Baku, Azerbeijan :
Güneşi İçenlerin Türküsü [The Ballad of Those Who Drink the Sun] (1928)
(The poems included in this book were dispersed in the first five books he published in Turkey with some modifications not to get into conflict with the Turkish laws.)

The books published in Turkey (1929-1936) :
835 Satır [835 Lines] (1929)
Jokond ile Sİ-YA-U [Gioconda and SI-YA-U] (1929)
Varan 3 [Coming is the 3rd] (1930)
1+1=1 (1930)
Sesini Kaybeden Şehir [The City Which Lost its Voice] (1931)
Benerci Kendini Niçin Öldürdü [Why Did Benerji Kill Himself] (1932)
Gece Gelen Telgraf [The Telegram That Came at Night] (1932)
Portreler [Portraits] (1935)
Taranta-Babu'ya Mektuplar [Letters to Taranta-Babu] (1935)
Simavne Kadısı Oğlu Şeyh Bedreddin Destanı [The Epic of Simavne Judge's Son Sheik Bedreddin] (1936)

Plays :
Kafatası [Skull] (1932)
Bir Ölü Evi [The House of the Mourning] (1932)
Unutulan Adam [The Forgotten Man] (1935)

Various :
Şeyh Bedreddin Destanına Zeyl, Millî Gurur [Appendix to the Epic of Sheik Bedreddin, National Pride] (1936)
İt Ürür Kervan Yürür [The Dog Barks and the Caravan Goes On] ] (Articles under the pseudonym of Orhan Selim, 1936)
Alman Faşizmi ve Irkçılığı [The German Fascism and Racialism] (study, 1936)
Sovyet Demokrasisi [Soviet Democracy] (study, 1936)

Thirteen years later, in 1949, when Nazim Hikmet was still in prison, Ahmet Halit Bookstore, published his verse translations of La Fontaine's Fables under the pseudonym of Ahmet Oğuz Saruhan : La Fontaine'den Masallar.
Except this translation, none of Nazim Hikmet's books have had the chance of being published in Turkey for 29 years.

Two years after his death in Moskow, in 1965, the weekly newspaper "Yön" began to publish his poems in every issue, and as there was no reaction from the authorities, the staff of the paper dared to publish Nazim Hikmet's national epic (which was already wellknown by manuscripts circulating in the literary circles) Kurtuluş Savaşı Destanı [The Epic of the Liberation War] in book form.

This was the first step. Then İzlem Publishing House in İstanbul, Dost Publishing House in Ankara, and many other small progressive publishing houses began to make new printings of his works which were published from 1929 to 1936 in Turkey, and which were recently being publised in Italy and Bulgaria in Turkish. Some of these books were prosecuted and the publishers went on trial, although most of them have been acquitted, a few of the books were banned and their publishers were found guilty.

De Publishing House which was owned by Piraye and Nazim Hikmet's step brother Metin Yasavul and led by Memet Fuat, began to publish the manuscripts which the poet himself put in book form when he was in Bursa Prison and gave Piraye to put them aside and reserve for the days of freedom to come.
These books were not even published outside of Turkey, and the poet in his interviews before his death had declared that some of them were lost.

The books printed at De Publishing House :
Saat 21-22 Şiirleri [9-10 P. M. Poems] (1965)
Dört Hapisaneden [From the Four Prisons] (1966)
Rubailer [Rubaiyat] (1966)
Ferhad ile Şirin [Ferhad and Shirin] (1965)
Sabahat [Sabahat] (1965)
Memleketimden İnsan Manzaraları [Human Landscapes from My Country] (5 volumes, 1966-1967)

Memet Fuat was the editor of all these books. Two of them, 9-10 P. M. Poems and From the Four Prisons were prosecuted and as the editor of the books he went on trial twice (15 years each), but fortunately he was found not guilty at the end.
Although there was a copy of Ferhad and Shirin printed outside of Turkey, the last part of the play was rewritten as it was lost. De Publishing House copy was the original text the poet wrote in Bursa Prison.
And the Human Landscapes from My Country printed in Bulgaria was not a different text, it was the same De Publishing House copy with its nearly sixty missing lines which had been taken out to spare this masterpiece of being banned by the Turkish laws.

Bilgi Publishing House, in 1968, printed Kuvâyi Milliye [National Forces] which was edited by Cevdet Kudret. This was a new version of Kurtuluş Savaşı Destanı [The Epic of the Liberation War] put in book form by the poet himself for İnkılap Bookstore after his release from the prison. He had done it unwillingly. Because Nazim Hikmet had placed this epic into his masterpiece, Human Landscapes from My Country, and a few times he had refused to publish it as a separate book. But after his release he had seen that he was not free in reality. All of the publishers were staying away from him. No one dared to print his books. A baby was coming, winter was at the door, he was in need of money, and İnkılap Bookstore proposed him to publish Kurtuluş Savaşı Destanı [The Epic of the Liberation War]. So he prepared a new version of the book and called it Kuvâyi Milliye [National Forces]. The year was 1951. A few month later, Nazim Hikmet left Turkey without a passport and went to Moskow. So it was not possible for İnkılap Bookstore to publish the book anymore, and seventeen years later, Cevdet Kudret, a literary critic and an adviser of the publishers, transfered the manuscript to Bilgi Publishing House.

Again in 1968'de, Bilgi Publishing House published Kemal Tahir'e Mapusaneden Mektuplar [Letters to Kemal Tahir from the Prison] and De Publishing House Cezaevi'nden Memet Fuat'a Mektuplar [Letters to Memet Fuat from the Prison].
Kemal Tahir was a friend of the poet who was in other prisons in the years when the letters were written and after his release who became a famous novelist. And Memet Fuat was the poets stepson who was in the beginning of his desire to become a writer in those days.
Two years later, in 1970, Cem Publishing House published another interesting collection of letters : Bursa Cezaevi'nden Vâ-Nû'lara Mektuplar [Letters to Va-Nus from the Bursa Prison]. Vâlâ Nurettin Vâ-Nû was the poet's childhood friend, an ex-communist and after his repentance a famous columnist. In the year 1975, De Publishing House published Memet Fuat's Nâzım ile Piraye [Nazim and Piraye]. This book selecting fragments from Nazim Hikmet's letters to Piraye and giving them together with the poems, was a delicate and touchy study showing how the poet's life and work was one within another. This study contained a small part of the letters and twenty three years later, in 1998, Adam Publishing House published in two volumes all of the letters the poet wrote to his wife Piraye from different prisons : Piraye'ye Mektuplar [Letters to Piraye].

During 1975-1980, Cem Publishing House published Nazim Hikmet's complete poems in nine volumes : Tüm Eserleri [Complete Works]. The editor was Asım Bezirci, a wellknown critic.

In the year 1980, Yazko Publishing House published Nâzım Hikmet'in Bilinmeyen İki Şiir Defteri [Two Unknown Poetry Notebooks of Nazim Hikmet] by Kemal Sülker, a wellknown researcher of the poet.

And from 1988 to 1990 Adam Publishing House collected all of the works of Nazim Hikmet, including poems, plays, novels, stories, articles, essays, radio speeches, interviews etc. in 28 volumes. The editor of the collection was Memet Fuat, and the researcher was Asım Bezirci. The content of the volumes are as follows :
Poetry :
1. 835 Satır [835 Lines] Jokond ile Sİ-YA-U [Gioconda and SI-YA-U]; Varan 3 [Coming is the 3rd]; 1+1=1; Sesini Kaybeden Şehir [The City Which Lost its Voice].
2. Benerci Kendini Niçin Öldürdü [Why Did Benerji Kill Himself] Gece Gelen Telgraf [The Telegram That Came at Night]; Portreler [Portraits]; Taranta-Babu'ya Mektuplar [Letters to Taranta-Babu]; Simavne Kadısı Oğlu Şeyh Bedreddin Destanı [The Epic of Simavne Judge's Son Sheik Bedreddin]; Şeyh Bedreddin Destanı'na Zeyl, Milli Gurur [Appendix to the Epic of Sheik Bedreddin, National Pride].
3. Kuvâyi Milliye [National Forces] Saat 21-22 Şiirleri [9-10 P. M. Poems]; Dört Hapisaneden [From Four Prisons]; Rubailer [Rubaiyat].
4. Yatar Bursa Kalesinde [Imprisoned in the Fortress of Bursa].
5. Memleketimden İnsan Manzaraları [Human Landscapes from My Country]
6. Yeni Şiirler [New Poems].
7. Son Şiirleri [His Last Poems].
8. İlk Şiirler [Beginning Poems].
9. La Fontaine'den Masallar [Fables of La Fontaine].

Plays :
10. Ocak Başında [At the Fireside]; Kafatası [Skull]; Bir Ölü Evi [The House of the Mourning]; Unutulan Adam [The Forgotten Man]; Bu Bir Rüyadır [This is a Dream].
11. Yolcu [The Traveller]; Ferhad ile Şirin [Ferhad and Shirin]; Sabahat [Sabahat]; Enayi [Fool].
12. Allah Rahatlık Versin [Good Night]; Evler Yıkılınca [When the Houses Come Down]; Yusuf ile Menofis [Joseph and Menofis]; İnsanlık Ölmedi Ya [Kindness is not Dead]; İvan İvanoviç Var mıydı Yok muydu? [Did Ivan Ivanovitch Exist or Didn't He?].
13. İstasyon [The Railway Station]; İnek [The Cow]; Demokles'in Kılıcı [The Sword of Damocles]; Tartüf - 59 [Tartuffe - 59].
14. Kadınların İsyanı [The Rebellion of Women]; Yalancı Tanık [False Witness]; Kör Padişah [Blind Sultan]; Her Şeye Rağmen [Despite Eveything].
(The play Evler Yıkılınca [When the Houses Come Down] in the twelfth book is one of the plays which was declared to be lost by Nazim Hikmet in an interview. It was found with the handwriting of the poet among the manuscripts which Piraye reserved and was published for the first time in this collection.)

Novels, Stories, Tales :
15. Kan Konuşmaz [The Blood Doesn't Speak].
16. Yeşil Elmalar [Green Apples].
17. Yaşamak Güzel Şey Be Kardeşim [Romantics].
18. Hikâyeler [Stories]
19. Çeviri Hikâyeler [Story Translations]
20. Masallar [Tales]
(Only his novel Yaşamak Güzel Şey Be Kardeşim [Romantics] and his book of tales Sevdalı Bulut [The Cloud in Love] was published under his own name. All of the others were published in the newspapers under different pseudonyms.)

Essays and Articles :
21. Art, Literature, Culture, Language
22. Articles (1924-1934)
23. Articles (1935)
24. Articles (1936)
25. Articles (1937-1962)
26. Interwievs
(Most of these essays and articles are published in the newspapers under different pseudonyms.)

Letters :
27. Nâzım ile Piraye [Nazim and Piraye]
28. . Cezaevinden Memet Fuat'a Mektuplar [Letters to Memet Fuat from the Prison].
(And Piraye'ye Mektuplar [Letters to Piraye], published by Adam Publishing House in two volumes, in 1998, should be mentioned as the last books of this collection.)

And there is also a pocket book in the list of Adam Publishing House : Nâzım Hikmet, Seçme Şiirler [Nazim Hikmet, Selected Poetry] edited by Memet Fuat.

Adam Publishing House has also published three books of Memet Fuat which are very valuable to understand the life and work of Nazim Hikmet :
1. Gölgede Kalan Yıllar [The Years Under The Shadow].
A book of reminiscences over 600 pages with fotographs which was selected "The Book of the Year" in 1997.
2. Nâzım Hikmet, Yaşamı, Ruhsal Yapısı, Davaları, Tartışmaları, Dünya Görüşü, Şiirinin Gelişmeleri [Nazim Hikmet, Life, Psychological Frame, Lawsuits, Discussions, Doctrine, Poetical Development.]
A biography over 700 pages with fotographs which was selected "The Book of the Year" in 2000.
3. Nâzım Hikmet Üstüne Yazılar [Essays on Nazim Hikmet].
And Adam Publishing House carries also the honour of publishing one of the best studies on Nazim Hikmet's Poetry written by Nedim Gürsel, the wellknown novelist and literary critic :
Nâzım Hikmet ve Geleneksel Türk Yazını [Nazim Hikmet and the Traditional Turkish Literature].


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES FOR NAZIM HIKMET'S WORK IN ENGLISH

Nazim Hikmet's poetry has been translated into English by different translators and published in England and U.S.A. by different publishers, but most of the books are out of print now.

The Books available are :

A Sad State of Freedom, translated by Taner Baybars and Richard McKane, published as a Greville Press pamphlet in England.

Nazim Hikmet Beyond the Walls, selected poems, translated by Richard McKane, Ruth Christie and Talat Halman, introduced by Talat Halman, published by Anvill Press in England and sponsored by Yapi Kredi Yayınları.

Poems of Nazim Hikmet, expanded and revised third edition, translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk, published by Persea Books in U.S.A.

Human Lanscapes from My Country, unabridged third edition, translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk, published by Persea Books in U.S.A.

And a book on Nazim Hikmet :

Romantic Communist, Saime Göksu - Edward Timms, Hurst and Company, London, 1999. The life and work of Nazim Hikmet. Preface by Yevgeny Yevtushenko. 368 pp, 43 illustrations. This is the first full-length biography in English, covering the poet's whole career from his birth in 1902 to his death in 1963.



- Top -