Turkish literature museum attracts 18,000 visitors in nine months

BURSA

The museum is housed in a beautifully restored traditional Ottoman style building in Bursa.

A literature museum in the northwestern city of Bursa has welcomed 18,000 visitors in the first nine months of 2026, offering a glimpse into the lives and works of some 240 Turkish writers through personal belongings, manuscripts and first-edition books.

Opened in 2018 by Nilüfer Municipality, the Nilüfer Literature Museum is housed in a restored two-story historic building in Gümüştepe’s Misi neighborhood. It is described as Türkiye’s first and only museum dedicated to literature, with a collection spanning different periods and figures in Turkish literary history.

Among the exhibits are the hat of novelist Yaşar Kemal, a handwritten poem by Behçet Necatigil, manuscripts and books published in Sofia by poet Nazım Hikmet, and the glasses, pen and alarm clock of poet Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca. The museum also displays a sketch for an unpublished book by acclaimed novelist Adalet Ağaoğlu.

A dedicated letter room features 50 original handwritten letters by writers and intellectuals, including Cemal Süreya, Rıfat Ilgaz, Attila İlhan and Halet Çambel. A further 800 handwritten letters are available in digital format.

The museum’s main exhibition occupies the upper floor of the building, comprising one hall and three rooms. In addition to manuscripts and personal effects, the collection includes typewriters used by writers.

Evrim Gülay Güleç, an art historian responsible for museum services at Nilüfer Municipality’s Directorate of Libraries and Museums, said the museum had received 18,000 visitors since the beginning of the year. The collection aims to present Turkish literature through both the works that shaped its history and the personal objects and correspondence that reveal the lives behind them.