^#smrgSAHAF Voices of Memory: Selected Poems of Oktay Rifat - 1993

Oktay Rifat, who died in 1988 aged 74, was in the forefront of Turkish literature for half a century. In 1941, with his friends Orhan Veli Kanık and Melih Cevdet Anday, he took part in the revolutionary movement which moved Turkish poetry away from the complex forms of the past to the themes and rhythms of ordinary speech. Although the type of poems he wrote changed considerably over the years, Oktay Rifat continued to be a major influence for the poets who came after him and remained convinced of the need to communicate with the reading public.

"Poetry must be read and must be readable," he wrote in 1973. "I'm notsaying let's not do any new research... True poetry develops with these adventurous studies. However, in the end, I say that the fox will turn round and eat the fur merchant."

As well as poetry, he wrote plays, novels and translations, and was an accomplished painter (one of his works is on the front cover). VOICES OF MEMORY draws upon all of Oktay Rifat's major books and is the first comprehensive collection of his poetry to appear in English. It is the work of two highly-regarded translators, Ruth Christie and Richard McKane, who knew Oktay Rifat well. (From back cover)