Poet and writer
(b. 25 December 1908 Üsküp / Macedonia - d. 15 March 1981, İstanbul). He began his education in Üsküp and continued
in İstanbul. He finished Osman Gazi
Primary School in Kadıköy, Torosyan Armenian School, Üsküp İrfan School and
Üsküp French School and the Commerce and Banking Department of Galatasaray High
School (1929). He worked at Ziraat and Merkez Banks, the newspaper Hakimiyet-i Milliye (Ulus) (1934-40),
the Turkish Language Association (1940-43) and at the Translation Office of the
Ministry of National Education (1943-46).
Transferring the journal Varlık that he began to publish with
Nahit Sırrı Örik and Sabri Esat Siyavuşgil in 1933 to İstanbul in 1946, he
established Varlık Publications in which he published about 2000 books, most of
which were translations about Western ideas and literature. He also published
the review Cep (1966-69) and the
Varlık Annual. The Great Service Award
of the Ministry of Culture was given to him because of work in publishing
(1979). After his death, the Yaşar Nabi Nayır Literature Reward was
established.
Yaşar Nabi whose first poems were
published in the journal Servet-i Fünun
(1920) published the journal Meşale
(1928, eight journal) and a collaborative poetry book called Yedi Meşale (The Seven Torches, 1928)
with Cevdet Kudret, Vasfi Mahir, Salih Esat, Kenan Hulusi, Ziya Osman and
Muammer Lütfi. Apart from Yedi Meşale
(The Seven Torches), he published his poems and articles in journals
such as Servet-i Fünun, Yeni Kitap,
Hayat, Muhit, Çığır (1926-23) and the journal Varlık (1933-81) that he published himself. Although he began his literary career with
poetry, he turned to other genres and wrote about sixty works including
stories, novels, plays, articles and translations from Western writers such as
Panait İstrati and Balzac.
WORKS:
POETRY: Yedi Meşale (Seven Torches-collaborative
work, 1928), Kahraman (Hero, 1929), Onar Mısra (Repair the Lines, 1932, new
edition with the addition of Mesafeler – Distances, published under the
name Kahramanlar - Heroes, 1970).
NOVEL: Bir Kadın Söylüyor (A Woman is Speaking, 1931), Adem ve Havva (Adam and Eve, 1932).
SHORT STORY: İnkılap Çocukları (Children of the Revolution, 1933), Bu da Bir Hikâyedir (This Is Also a
Story, 1935), Sevi Çıkmazı (Dead-End
of Love, 1935).
PLAY: Mete (Mete, 1933), İnkılap
Çocukları (Children of the Revolution, 1933), Beş Devir (Five Periods, 1933), Köyün
Namusu (Integrity of the Village, 1933), Radyofonik Öyküler (Radio phonic Stories, radio plays, 1979).
REVIEW-ARTICLE: Balkanlar ve Türklük (People from the Balkans and Being Turkish,
1936), Edebiyatımızın Bugünkü Meseleleri (Issues
of Our Present Education, 1937), Nereye
Gidiyoruz (Where Are We Going?, 1948), Yıllar
Boyunca (Through the Years, 1959), Atatürkçülük
Nedir? (What is Atatürk’s Political Doctrine, 1963), Atatürk Yolu (The Way of Atatürk, 1966), Edebiyat Dünyamız (Our Literature World, 1971), Dost Mektupları (Letters of Friends,
letters of dead writers, 1972), Değişen
Dünyamız (Our Changing World, 1973), Çağımıza
Ters Düşenler (Those that Are Against to Our Era, 1975).
ANTHOLOGY: Edebiyatçılarımız Konuşuyor (Our Authors Are Speaking, 1976).
His translations have also been
published.
