shopping cart
Save up to 30% on our Staff Picks
Call us:  800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Original Essays | October 17, 2009

Jessica Maxwell: IMG God's Tea Party



My Catholic friend tilted her teacup like a fortune-teller. "You know," she said, "I think people who don't have God in their lives are like people... Continue »
  1. $17.50 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

Poems of Nazim Hikmet (Karen and Michael Braziller Books)

by Nazim Hikmet

Poems of Nazim Hikmet (Karen and Michael Braziller Books) Cover

ISBN13: 9780892552740
ISBN10: 0892552743
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $9.95!

Staff Pick

Nazim Hikmet is one of the truly great individual voices of the 20th century. His eminently readable poems speak of the tragedies of his life — political repression, prison, the loss of love, poor health, and exile — in the voices of the people of his Turkish fatherland. Hikmet's verse is deceptively straightforward and deeply informed by his principled opposition to oppression in any form. Whether they tell the tale of a train trip in the USSR or the story of a failed medieval slave revolt, these poems will grip you and move you in the way that only the greatest can.
Recommended by Chris Faatz, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Published in celebration of the poet's 100th birthday, this exciting new edition of the poems of the Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) collects work from his four previous selected volumes — all from Persea, all now out of print — and adds more than 20 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 is considered Turkey's greatest modern poet. For his Communist views, he was imprisoned in Turkey and his work was banned. His poetry has been translated into more than 50 languages, and he won the World Peace Prize (the USSR's equivalent of the Nobel) in 1950.

Review:

"An excellent translation of one of the 20th century's finest poets. A communist, Hikmet survived multiple attempts on his life and spent the majority of his adulthood in prison for inciting a rebellion with his poetry before Sartre and Picasso petitioned for his release. His poetry, long banned in his native country, is highly political but also focuses on the simpler necessities of hope, freedom, food, and the love of various wives." Tin House magazine

Review:

Brilliantly conceived and executed, witty and passionate, and inspiring in a sense not found in most modern poems.

Review:

These translations are so colloquial, one forgets one isn't reading the originals.

Review:

One of the great poetic voices of all time.

Review:

A potent testament to the Turkish poet's genius.

Synopsis:

A centennial volume, with previously unavailable poems, by Turkey's greatest poet. Published in celebration of the poet's one hundredth birthday, this exciting new edition of the poems of the Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) collects work from his four previous selected volumesall from Persea, all now out of printand 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.

About the Author

Nazim Hikmet is considered Turkey's greatest modern poet. For his Communist views, he was imprisoned in Turkey and his work was banned. His poetry has been translated into more than fifty languages. He won the World Peace Prize (the USSR's equivalent of the Nobel) in 1950.

Randy Blasing, a former National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellow, is the author of seven books of poetry, including Choice Words: Poems 1970-2005.

Mutlu Konuk, a native of Istanbul, is Professor of English at Brown University. She recently published her fourth book of criticism, Lyric Poetry: The Pain and the Pleasure of Words.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
landlady, July 20, 2008 (view all comments by landlady)
the book is wonderful, the translations are very good and the introduction is very well written too.
Nazim Hikmet is one of the most important if not the most important poet of Turkey. thus, everything written on him is a must to every poetry lover and especially those who are adherent of Turkis poetry.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(3 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)

Product Details

ISBN:
9780892552740
Author:
Hikmet, Nazim
Publisher:
Persea Books
Translator:
Konuk, Mutlu
Translator:
Blasing, Randy
Author:
Blasing, Randy
Author:
Forche, Carolyn
Author:
Konuk, Mutlu
Location:
New York
Subject:
Asian
Subject:
Poetry
Subject:
Translations into english
Subject:
General Poetry
Edition Number:
2
Edition Description:
Revised, Expand
Series:
Karen and Michael Braziller Books
Series Volume:
107-67
Publication Date:
May 2002
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
274
Dimensions:
9 x 6 in

Other books you might like

  1. $10.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    Breath: Poems

    Philip Levine
  2. $14.00 New Trade Paper add to wish list

    Cocktails

    D A Powell
  3. $16.95 New Trade Paper add to wish list
  4. $16.95 New Trade Paper add to wish list

    Goldbeater's Skin

    George Calvin Waldrep
  5. $7.25 Used Trade Paper add to wish list
  6. $8.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.