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Synopsis
POETRY BOOK SOCIETY RECOMMENDED TRANSLATION "The dominant characteristic of Rifat’s poetry is simple joy in existence, yet he manages to convey complex arguments concealed beneath objects in their starkest forms. We have primary colours and simple adjectives giving the illusion of naivety or simplicity yet the cleverness of the pacing and statements enables his thought to be profound." Belinda Cooke, Acumen 65 For half a century Oktay Rifat occupied a leading position in the vanguard of Turkish poetry. Despite his popularity and fame he rarely appeared in public, preferring the private life of an ordinary family man and content to work as an attorney while continuing to write. This generous selection exemplifies Rifat’s insistence that 'poetry must be read and must be readable.’ It draws on all phases of his work, from the early iconclasm and later neo-surrealism to the mature period in which innovation blends with folk traditions, creating poetry rich in feeling and thought. Born in Trezibond on the Black Sea, Oktay Rifat (1914-1988) was the son of a Turkish Member of Parliament. After studying in Paris before the Second World War he became an attorney and worked for most of his life as a legal adviser for Turkish State Railways. Ruth Christie and Richard McKane are the translators of selected poems by Nâzim Hikmet, Beyond the Walls, also from Anvil.
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