Nedim Gürsel (born 5 April 1951 in

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

writer. In the late 1960s, he published novellas and essays in Turkish magazines. After graduating from Galatasaray High School in 1970, he studied at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. In 1974, he graduated from the Sorbonne's Department of Modern French Literature.
. Retrieved 2009-05-28. In 1979, he received his doctorate in comparative literature after completing his dissertation on Louis Aragon and Nazim Hikmet. He returned to Turkey but the unrest there in 1980 persuaded him to go back to France. In 1976, Gürsel published ''A Summer without End'', a collection of stories. For that collection, in 1977, Gürsel received Turkey's highest literary prize, the ''Prize of the Turkish Language Academy''. After the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état ( tr, 12 Eylül Darbesi), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by ...

, a military tribunal charged that Gürsel's collection had slandered the Turkish army. In 1983, the Turkish military censored Gürsel's novel ''The First Woman''. Although the Turkish authorities dismissed the charges against Gürsel, their actions made ''A Summer without End'' and ''The First Woman'' unavailable in Turkey for several years. In 2008, Gürsel published ''The Daughters of Allah''. The book prompted the Turkish authorities to charge Gürsel with insulting religion. In June 2009, a court in Istanbul acquitted Gürsel of the charge. Gürsel is a founding member of the International Parliament of Writers. In 2019 he was the eleventh Friedrich Dürrenmatt Guest Professor for World Literature at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

. Today, a citizen of France, he teaches contemporary Turkish literature at the Sorbonne, and works as the research director on Turkish Literature at the International French Science Research Center (CNRS). Gürsel's awards include: *1977, Prize of the Turkish Language Academy *1986, the Abdi Ipekçi Prix for his contribution to the bringing together of Greeks and Turks) *1986, the Freedom Award by French PEN Club *1987, Haldun Taner Citation (with Tomris Uyar and Murathan Munhan) *1990, The prize for best international scenario by Radio France Internationale *1992, Struga Gold Plaque Award *2004, France-Turquie Literary Prize “Fernand Rouillon” *2004, Art and Literature Chivalry by French Government. Gürsel's works include: *''Kadinlar Kitabi'' (The Book of Women), 1975 *''Uzun Sürmüs Bir Yaz'' (A Summer without End), 1976 *''Ilk Kadin'' (The First Woman), 1986 and 2004 *''Sevgilim Istanbul'' (Istanbul My Love), 1986 *''Son Tramvay'' (The Last Tram), 1991 *''Saint Nazaire Günlügü'' (The Newspaper of Saint-Nazaire), 1995 *''Bogazkesen, Fatih’in Romani'' (The Conqueror), 1996 *''Balkanlara Dönüs'' (Return to the Balkans), 1995 *''Nâzim Hikmet ve Geleneksel Türk Yazisi'' (Nazim Hikmet and Turkish popular literature), 2000 *''Yasar Kemal'' (Yachar Kemal—the novel of a transition), 2000 and 2005 *''Aragon: Baskaldiridan Gerçege'' (The Perpetual Motion of Aragon—

dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

ïst revolt with the real world), 2000 *''Sag Saglim Kavussak, Çocukluk Yillari'' (In the country of captive fish—a Turkish childhood), 2004 *''Allah'in Kizlari'' (The Daughters of Allah), 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gursel, Nedim 1951 births Turkish expatriates in France Turkish novelists University of Paris alumni Living people People from Gaziantep