Kemal Sadık Gökçeli, known by most as Yaşar Kemal, achieved legendary status through an extensive body of literary works including numerous short stories and novels. His creations delved into the intricate struggles and hardships faced by socially and culturally marginalized villagers in Anatolia. Regarded as the very heart and conscience of Turkish literature, Kemal's profound voice left an indelible mark.

His writing career began in the 1940s, after which he soon gained recognition for his poignant and evocative storytelling and exploration of the complex social, cultural, and political dynamics of Turkey.

His novels and short stories vividly depicted the harsh realities faced by peasants, laborers, and outcasts, often shining a light on social injustices and advocating for the marginalized. Through his compelling narratives, Kemal delved into themes of poverty, land disputes, political unrest, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Anatolian roots

Born on October 6, 1923, in the village of Hemite in Osmaniye province in southeastern Turkey to Kurdish parents from the shores of Lake Van, Kemal began his primary education in the village of Burhanli near his hometown and later completed primary school in Kadirli. He moved on to high school in Adana, where worked in a cotton-cloth factory, but dropped out towards the end and worked as a clerk, teacher's assistant, librarian, tractor driver, cotton gatherer, cocoon driver, and farm supervisor.

In the early 1940s, Kemal became acquainted with leftist artists and writers such as Pertev Naili Boratov, Abidin Dino, and Arif Dino, and was imprisoned for the first time at the age of 17 for political reasons. In the year 1943, he published his first book Ağıtlar (Lullaby), which contains a handful of Turkish folk poetry collected by the author during his explorations through the villages of Anatolia. 

After completing his military service in 1946, he moved to Istanbul, where he worked as a gas receipt clerk for a French company, but returned to Qadirli in 1948 to work as a border guard and later as a complainant. He was arrested in 1950 on charges of spreading communist propaganda and imprisoned at Kozan prison in Adana. After his acquittal in 1951, he moved to Istanbul again and worked as an editor and columnist for Cumhuriyet (The Republic) newspaper until 1941.

Finding his voice

Kemal published his first collection of short stories in a book entitled Sarı Sıcak in 1952 before publishing the first of his four-volume series Ince Memed (Memed the Slim) in 1955, which gained him great fame. Kemal also joined the ranks of the Turkish Workers' Party in 1962 and was a member of the Executive Committee and Central Executive Committee, as well as a founder of the socialist magazine Ant in 1957.

 Kemal became a member of the Turkish Writers Union in 1973 and served as its president from 1974-1975 and later became the first president of the newly formed PEN club in 1988. Kemal was tried and acquitted by the State Security Court in Istanbul for an article published in the German magazine Der Spiegel in 1995.  In the same year, he was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison because of an article entitled "Black Clouds in Turkey's Sky" that was published in the British magazine Index on Censorship, but his sentence was suspended.

As a writer, Kemal’s amazing ability to describe poetic language made him a prominent figure in Turkish and world literature, and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973. The author has written more than 40 novels and dozens of other books of poetry and essays, and most of his works have been translated into nearly 50 world languages, including Kurdish. So far, he has received 19 major awards in and outside of Turkey, the most prominent being the Légion d'honneur in France. Kemal was also awarded the Peace Prize in 1997 at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Turkish Cultural Prize by President Abdullah Gul in 2008, the Battalion of Glory of the French Republic in 2011, and the Armenian Grigor Narektsi Award in 2013.

The two books – Binbir Çiçekli Bahçe (The Yard of a Thousand and One Roses) and Bu Bir Çağrıdır (This One is a Local) – were published in recent years and contain all of Kemal’s articles and theses about these issues. 

A humanitarian at heart

Kemal was a great advocate of resolving the Kurdish question and democratizing Turkey, openly calling for a solution to the Kurdish issue at conferences. 

In his later years, he had a great desire to visit the Kurdistan Region and, in the summer of 2010, at his request and at his home in Istanbul, we planned a trip to Kurdistan (Region). The plan was to stay in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah for a week. A plane ticket was purchased. However, the author’s deteriorating health made the trip impossible, and doctors later prohibited him from traveling. This way his wish to visit Kurdistan went unfulfilled, but we talked on the phone at least once or twice a month and exchanged ideas about the situation in Kurdistan and Turkey, his books, and literary works.

Kemal also wished was that all his works would be translated into Kurdish. For this very purpose, he officially asked me to supervise the translation of his novels and other books into the Southern Kurdish Dialect. Now, I am constantly trying to find financial resources to translate them but also to obtain the copyrights for these translations in order to combine all of the author's works in a single source. Due to my closeness to Kamal and my acquaintance with his humanitarian way of thinking, working to translate his works has been the truest manifestation of the Kurdish loyalty to a son whose fate obliged him to live in a different culture and language, a language of another nation that became his medium of writing.

Tapestry of vibrant characters

Yaşar Kemal's literary voice resonated deeply with readers, both in Turkey and around the world. His prose was characterized by a rich tapestry of vibrant characters, poetic language, and a deep understanding of human nature. His storytelling prowess earned him numerous accolades and awards throughout his career, solidifying his status as one of Turkey's most esteemed literary figures.

Beyond his literary contributions, Yaşar Kemal was also a staunch advocate for human rights, freedom of expression, and the preservation of cultural heritage. He used his platform to shed light on the plight of the marginalized and often spoke out against social and political injustices.

Yaşar Kemal's literary legacy continues to inspire and captivate readers to this day. His works have been translated into numerous languages and have garnered international acclaim. As a Kurdish writer, he played a significant role in promoting cultural diversity and raising awareness about the Kurdish experience.

Kemal died on February 28, 2015, at the age of 92 in Istanbul and was to rest in Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in Istanbul, but his words and profound insights live on, ensuring that his contributions to literature and social consciousness will endure for generations to come.

Baker Schwani is a Kurdish writer and translator based in Germany. He has published several acclaimed novels into Kurdish. Schwani was born in Kirkuk and studied geology in Baghdad before moving to Germany and obtaining a degree in oriental studies at the University of Bonn.