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

  • 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…

  • Six Hundred Today

    But you can’t read any of them… I’m sketching out a new idea for a novel. The current work in progress is stalled, mainly because there is no story. So I’m hunting around for new ideas and have hit an interesting one. I’ll keep sketching and see what emerges.

  • Two Hundred Words

    It’s not very much really, barely enough to scratch the surface of a topic, to explain the background. But sometimes it feels like an impossible task. Impossible to begin, impossible to achieve. But in the beginning was the word, which was joined by another word and another and it all started with one. Not a…

  • Helping Yourself

    I love a good self-help book. They are terrific at making you feel that if you just do this one thing, all your troubles will resolve, your personality will improve and those millions you should be making will flow right to you. Overall the tone is hopeful, encouraging and enthusiastic, exactly what we need in…

  • Accountability

    I am going to use this blog for accountability in relation to my career as a novel writer. Big statement that. And arguably not quite true. I am a writer alright. I have technically written one novel. I have never sold a single word of my writing, so career is a little ambitious here. So…

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@CatherineYigit

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