Flame-Dried Figs

Catherine Yiğit – Irish writer living in Turkey

Scorched leaves and flame-dried figs on a fig tree with a light blue sky behind

The Interface of Climate, Landscape and People

  • Raising Consciousness

    Raising Consciousness

    In the process of planning my next novel, I have been searching about climate change and our connection to the planet.   Using the keywords “climate conscious,” I found my way to the Climate Consciousness Summit. It was starting very soon, running during the COP 30 summit in Belém in Brazil. I spent a week…

  • Focus

    Focus

    Deadlines work for me, excellently, impeccably. But what about when there is no deadline? When there is no outside push to do the work. A lot of time-wasting is what happens. I can’t call it procrastination because that’s done when there is a goal that is being avoided. This involves a complete blank on all…

  • Make It Till You Make It

    I heard Debbie Millman say this on the Mel Robbins podcast. It was almost a throwaway comment at the end of the podcast but it really resonated with me. Make it till you make it. It’s all you can really do.

  • Clementine Crane Prefers Not To

    Clementine Crane Prefers Not To

    Book Review Kristin Bair Alcove Press 2025 This is a book about a woman in her forties who experiences her first hot flash and is radicalized by it. Rather than continue stuffing all of the appointments and responsibilities for her three children and husband into her bursting chest cavity, she goes on strike. It’s an…

  • A Little Poem

    A Little Poem

    I first listened in to some of the Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Sessions quite a while ago when they were led by Lynn Buckle. I was always a bit shy about the writing aspect of it, preferring to listen to the guests and keep my head down. Then the host changed and I lost…

  • Too Much Caffeine, Never Enough Chat

    Too Much Caffeine, Never Enough Chat

    Yesterday I went across to Bozcaada to visit Robyn Rowland. Robyn is an Irish-Australian poet who has been visiting this area for many years. She generally stays at the Alesta Hotel run by her friend Meral. It’s always a great excuse for a day trip. Robyn gave me a copy of her latest book of…

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An ancient aqueduct spans a gorge
Wooden replica of the Wooden Horse of Troy at the entrance to the archaeological site; the head of the wooden horse is silhouetted against a pale blue sky.
A grove of oak trees on dry grass
A restored aqueduct viewed from the top of the gorge

This is how it all started…

Catherine Yiğit is a writer living near the ancient city of Troy in northwestern Turkey. She arrived in Turkey from Ireland on a roundabout route which circumnavigated the globe. Arriving without a word of the language, she began writing as a way to freely express herself and explore her new life.

She was fortunate to contribute to two anthologies written by foreign women with connections to Turkey. Overcoming her language difficulties, Catherine has worked as a translator and editor for academic papers for the last decade.

She is currently editing a near-future science fiction novel set in Western Turkey and writing her work-in-progress.

A woman with short brown hair and glasses stands in front of stacked logs

Catherine Yiğit

Writer, Translator & Editor