THE PROSE WORK OF NEXATI ZEKERIYA (1928-1988) Mahmut Celik

Abstract

Nexati Zekeriya is one of the founders, especially of children's poetry and prose in the Turkish language in the Republic of North Macedonia. However, his exceptional contribution to the publishing of children's magazines (Sevinch and Tomurdzuk), of which he was the main and responsible editor from the foundation, and remained during the years when the first books for children in the Turkish language were published in the Republic of Macedonia, is also significant. In addition, Nexati Zekeriya is also significant for the affirmation of the Turkish literature and culture of the Republic of North Macedonia outside the borders of Macedonia, and above all in the former Yugoslav territories and in the Republic of Turkey. His book of short stories "Children from our street" represented the first serious breakthrough in the work of Turkish writers in the Republic of North Macedonia, not only in the Yugoslav territories, but also in the Balkans and beyond. Nexati Zekeriya's contribution to the affirmation of Macedonian poetry in the Republic of Turkey deserves special attention, and his translations of the poetry of Kocho Racin and Blaze Koneski were especially noticed. However, the place of Nexati in the field of short stories for children in the Turkish language in the Republic of North Macedonia is of exceptional importance. He was awarded the most prestigious Yugoslav award in the field of children's literature the Zmay Award for your contribution to Turkish children's literature in competition with 60 important Yugoslav children's writers.