He graduated from the Political Sciences Faculty of Ankara University. He was the editor-in-chief of the Papirus literary magazine. Cemal Süreya is a notable member of the Second New Generation of Turkish poetry, an abstract and postmodern movement created as a backlash against the more popular-based Garip movement. Love, mainly through its erotic entity, is a popular theme of Süreya's works. Süreya's poems and articles were published in magazines like Yeditepe, Yazko, Pazar Postası, Yeni Ulus, Oluşum, Türkiye Yazıları, Politika, Aydınlık, and Somut.