Edited by Burcu Alkan and Çimen Günay-Erkol, Turkish Literature as World Literature (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021) examines Turkish literature through its connections and exchanges with the wider world.
In his chapter “The Influence of Nâzım Hikmet on Arab Poetry,” Mehmet Hakkı Suçin explores Nâzim Hikmet’s reception in Arabic translation and his influence on poets including Mahmoud Darwish, Tawfīq Zayyād, Ṣalāḥ ʿAbd al-Ṣabūr, and ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bayātī.
The chapter considers the appeal of Hikmet’s poetic language, his engagement with tradition, and his commitment to ordinary people and the oppressed.