Forthcoming Release

Turkish Lullabies

Done into English by Mevlut Ceylan

“This is a delightful book that shows us the minds, thoughts and culture of a people. When these oral verses and songs are written down, they are a reminder for those who know them or only half-remember them, they are a way of keeping the tradition alive for the next generation and they are a way for those who don’t know the Turkish culture to be taken into this most intimate of moments, the gentle hushing of a baby to sleep.”

—Michael Rosen, Children’s Laureate (2007-2009)

“These lullabies from Türkiye are steeped in love for the youngest and most vulnerable of its members.”

—Debjani Chatterjee

In beautiful verse, Mevlut Ceylan renders traditional Turkish lullabies into English.

The appeal of these lullabies goes beyond parents and their children — they give an insight into a world that has been sung across generations.

About the Translator

Mevlut Ceylan was born in Ankara and since 1979 has been living in self-imposed exile in London. He has published three collections of his own poetry in Turkish and has translated many Turkish poets into English, publishing a series of chapbooks from Core Publications of the work of Cahit Zarifoğlu, Arif Ay, Nuri Pakdil, Erdem Bayazıt and Asaf Halet Celebi among others, and editing two anthologies of Turkish poetry in translation.

He founded Core: An International Poetry Magazine with the poet Feyyaz Fergar in London. He has translated into Turkish selections from James Joyce’s Chamber Music, RD Laing’s Conversations with Children, and poems by Mahmoud Darwish, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Marvin X, Amiri Baraka, Kobi Nazrul Islam, among many others, in Turkish literary journals.