Yashar Kemal, 1922–2015
NYRB is saddened by the death this week of Yashar Kemal, author of Memed, My Hawk and They Burn the Thistles. Born into a Kurdish family in a village in southern Anatolia, Kemal received his basic education in village schools before working as a farmer, factory worker, public letter-writer, and journalist. Memed, My Hawk, his first novel, was published in 1955 and won the Varlik Prize for best novel of the year. Kemal’s numerous other books include The Wind from the Plain trilogy, Salman the Solitary, Seagull, and four books recounting the exploits of Memed, including, Memed, My Hawk and They Burn the Thistles, both published by NYRB Classics.