Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Halide Edib Adıvar
A writer and vocal leader of the emerging women's emancipation movement in Turkey,
Halide Edib Adıvar (1884-1964) was an ally of Atatürk and a leading figure in the War of
Independence. Her 1926 autobiography, Memoir of Halide Edib , recounts her privileged
upbringing in Beşiktaş and Üsküdar, progressive education at the American College for
Girls in Arnavutköy and subsequent marriage to a noted mathematician, who humiliated
her by taking a second wife. After leaving him, she joined the Nationalists, remarried,
worked closely with Atatürk and wrote a popular history of the War of Independence
called The Turkish Ordeal (1928). In later years she worked as a university lecturer, wrote
over 20 novels - the most famous of which was probably the 1938 work Thewn and His
Daughter - and had a brief stint as a member of parliament. A fictionalised account of the
early part of this fascinating woman's life can be found in Halide's Gift, an enjoyable
novel by American writer Frances Kazan.
Contemporary Novelists
The second half of the 20th century saw a raft of İstanbul-based writers and poets being
published locally and internationally. Many were socialists, communists or outspoken crit-
ics of the government, and spent long and repeated periods in jail. The two most famous
were Nâzım Hikmet (1902-63), whose masterwork is the five-volume collection of lyric
and epic poetry entitled Human Landscapes from My Country; and Yaşar Kemal (b 1923),
whose best-known work is Mehmed, My Hawk. Two of his novels - The Birds Are Also
Gone and The Sea-Crossed Fisherman - are set in İstanbul.
Another local novelist whose work is worth seeking out include O Z Livaneli (b 1946),
author of the 2003 bestseller Bliss ( Mutluluk, in Turkish). Set in a rural village in south-
eastern Turkey, in İstanbul and on the Aegean coast, it deals with weighty issues such as
honour killing and was made into a film in 2007.
High-profile writer Elif Şafak was born in Strasbourg in 1971 to Turkish parents and
now lives in İstanbul; she writes in both Turkish and English. Her best-known novels are
The Flea Palace (2002), The Saint of Incipient Insanities (2004), The Bastard of Istanbul
(2006) and The Forty Rules of Love (2010). Her most recent work is Honour (2012).
In his 2007 book The Bridge , Dutch writer Geert Mak paints the Galata Bridge and
its denizens (including anglers and street vendors) as being a microcosm of mod-
ern Turkey. Though prematurely dated, it's still a fascinating read.
 
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