Home » Turkey » Orhan Kemal

Orhan Kemal

Biography

Orhan Kemal was born in Adana in 1914. His father was a Member of Parliament and Minister but had to flee Turkey when he was suspected of being involved in a plot.The family lived in Syria for a while and then Beirut. Kemal did various odd jobs, before military service, when his political opinions resulted in him being sentenced to five years in prison. While in prison, he became the cellmate of Nâzım Hikmet, who became a major literary influence on him. At this point he started writing stories and, after release from prison, started publishing his stories.

He moved to Istanbul with his family but continued to work, as he earned little from his stories. He was again arrested in 1966 but released when the charges were not substantiated. He died in 1970 when on a visit to Bulgaria. He wrote novels, plays and stories. There is a museum devoted to him in Istanbul.

Other links

Orhan Kemal
Orhan Kemal
Orhan Kemal

Bibliography

1949 Baba Evi (My Father’s House; later : The Story of a Small Man) ( novel)
1950 Avare Yıllar (The Idle Years) (novel)
1952 Murtaza (Murtaza : The King of His Duty ) (novel)
1952 Cemile (Gemilé) (novel)
1954 Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde (novel)
1957 Suçlu (novel)
1958 Devlet Kuşu (novel)
1958 Vukuat Var (novel)
1958 Dünya Evi (novel)
1959 Gavurun Kızı (novel)
1960 Küçücük (novel)
1960 El Kızı (novel)
1961 Hanımın Çiftliği (novel)
1962 Eskici ve Oğulları (novel)
1962 Gurbet Kuşları (novel)
1963 Sokakların Çocuğu (novel)
1963 Kanlı Topraklar (novel)
1965 Bir Filiz Vardı (novel)
1965 Nazım Hikmet’le Üç buçuk Yıl (In Jail with Nazım Hikmet) (memoirs)
1966 Müfettişler Müfettişi (novel)
1966 Yalancı Dünya (novel)
1966 Evlerden Biri (novel)
1967 72. Koğuş (The Prisoners : 72. Ward) (story)
1968 Arkadaş Islıkları (novel)
1968 Sokaklardan Bir Kız (novel)
1969 Üç Kağıtçı (novel)
1969 Kötü Yol (novel)
1970 Kaçakö.s.) (novel)
1986 Tersine Dünyaö.s) (novel)
1953 Dünya Dönüyor (novel)
1956 Neden Böyle (novel)
2014 Uçurum (novel)