Writing

I began writing as a way to express myself as I lived in a new culture and learned a new language. It was the one place where I didn’t need a translator and could easily and fully be myself. Since then it has been a constant theme, though I admit to not being very prolific.

I blogged with relative inconsistency at The Skaian Gates, writing about life in Turkey, thoughts about writing and book reviews. The blog initially started out on Blogger and that remains an archive.

Currently I’m working on a near-future science fiction novel. Draft one is done and I’m working my way through revisions. There’s a long way to go yet…

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.

Below there’s links to a selection of publications in newspapers and blogs through the years. Several are links to pdf files; the internet may feel like it will last forever, but unless someone pays for it, it won’t.

Expat Sofra – Culinary Tales of Foreign Women in Turkey (edited by Katherine Belliel and Francesca Rosa) Alfa Yayinlari (Turkey 2019). I wrote a story about an exciting afternoon tea hosted by the parent’s association at my children’s school in Afternoon Tea. The book is also available in Turkish as Expat Sofra – Türkiye’de Yaşayan Yabancı Kadınların Mutfak Hikâyeleri (Editörler: Katherine Belliel, Francesca Rosa, Çevirmen: İrem Kutluk) Çay Partisindeki Sürpriz Alfa Yayinlari (2019).

I also blogged about what sofra means with reference to the hazelnut orchard owned by my parents-in-law in Giresun on the Black Sea coast of Turkey.

I wrote two posts for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, the first was about a book written in 1943 that has gained great popularity in Turkey recently: ‘Best Seller For a New Age – ‘MADONNA IN A FUR COAT’ by Sabahattin Ali (26 August 2017). The other post was about a book in Turkish about the population exchange and the deep effects it had on both Turkish and Greek societies: ‘A Documentary Novel: “The Entrusted Trousseau – Peoples of the Exchange” by Kemal Yalçin’ (18 August 2017).

I wrote about how cooking changes when you need to cater for illness for the Tables of Istanbul blog: ‘In sickness and in health’ (27 June 2016). Tables of Istanbul is a documentary of food, culture and Istanbul by sociologist Zeynep Kılıç.

I’ve written or contributed to pieces in The Irish Times: ‘I miss Ireland but the things I miss most are long gone’ (27th January 2015) – Generation Emigration ‘Ireland and Me’ which is available in an e-book of entries to the competition, Irish Times ‘Ireland and Me: reflections by emigrants’ (17 March 2015).

I heard about the Expat Harem through a call for submissions in a Turkish newspaper, which I wrote about for The Mercury Brief From Çanakkale, thoughts about family create an invitation to a global community (2nd August 2010). That submission eventually culminated in The Food Factory, a tale about my mother-in-law’s kitchen and family in Turkey published in Tales from the Expat Harem – Foreign Women in Modern Turkey’ edited by Anastasia M. Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gökmen.

A few years after publication, Anastasia Ashman re-envisioned it as expat+HAREM for expats to share their experiences and for a brief time, it was a vibrant and lively community. I wrote several pieces: Death at a distance (28th July 2010), Downdrafts and uplifts (14th April 2010), Sweet but sticky (23rd January 2010), Same river, never twice (14th December 2009) and It takes a virtual village (16th November 2009).