Fog Bells: 8 Contemporary Turkish Poets is a groundbreaking Turkish/ English bilingual anthology, translated and introduced by Irish translator Neil P. Doherty, and presents a generous selection of the work of eight distinguished living practitioners to provide an insight into the depth and richness of contemporary poetry in the Turkish language, still so little known in the West. “These fog bells, which were first sounded at one edge of the European land mass, are now ringing out at its opposite extremity. Who knows what new routes, what hitherto unexplored songlines they may inspire?”
Poems by Cevat Çapan, Mehmet Taner, Lale Müldür, Mustafa Köz, Elif Sofya, Birhan Keskin, Gökçenur Ç.and Gonca Özmen
Neil P. Doherty’s Fog Bells presents a well-chosen selection of contemporary Turkish poetry, in the original language with Doherty’s excellent, clear translations into English printed face en face. His introduction offers one of the best accounts of this poetry in the context of its living tradition that I have seen.
— Richard Tillinghast, translator, with Julia Clare Tillinghast, of Dirty August: Selected Poems of Edip CanseverAs you delve into the poetry of the eight poets included in this anthology, you will be struck by the breadth, depth and idiosyncratic character of contemporary Turkish poetry, which is growing steadily in prominence in the English-speaking world. Rather than offering only a smattering of well known poets such as those presented by conventional anthologies, Neil P. Doherty has chosen a more focused and in-depth, yet perhaps more challenging, generational approach, to exhibit the range of paths taken by poets who have emerged as outstanding voices of their day, and to reveal the innovations of style and form their work displays, beginning with Cevat Çapan, born in 1933 and ending with Gonca Özmen, who was born in 1982. As he notes in the introduction, contemporary Turkish poetry can be viewed as “a tradition that is both in dialogue with itself and also keen to seek new, unexplored paths of expression.” Bringing this exciting outflow of creative energy to an English-speaking readership requires dedicated supporters and translators with the expertise, knowledge and experience they must have to do their job well. Turkish poets writing today are indeed blessed to have just such a translator and advocate in Mr. Doherty, who has devoted much of his life and career to championing Turkish poetry both in his adopted homeland of Türkiye and internationally.
— Mel Kenne, poet & translator“As the saying goes, ‘Poetry is of the individual self, but the act of translation makes it international.’ It is encouraging to me that poetry from an eastern language such as Turkish should be translated into one of the westernmost international languages.”
— Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill“The full range of felt emotion – encompassing grief, joy, whimsy, longing – seems somehow distilled and honoured in this vibrant anthology. Among other things, its arrival may send a reviving gust of energy through the more insular spaces of Irish culture. Poetry’s horizons have always been broader than the comfortable confines within which many of our cliqued and sinecured gate-keepers have been content to keep it slotted. Its home is the world, and its journeys manifold – across languages and histories, alive with ‘the honour of carrying / This light.'”
— Ciaran O’Rourke, on Cassandra Voices“I picked up this book knowing nothing of Turkish poetry, and put it down hungry to learn more. If that’s not a job well done for any such anthology, I don’t know what is. My thanks to Neil P. Doherty for his hard work and to Dedalus for making it available. We owe you all a debt of gratitude.”
—Billy Mills, on Elliptical Movements. See the full review in the link following
Fog Bells: 8 Contemporary Turkish Poets
Bilingual Volume
20 October 2025
140 x 216 mm. 182 pp
ISBN HB 9781915629326
ISBN PB 978191562933
Cover image by Salma Caller, www.salmaahmadcaller.com
