Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, Scotland 17 April 1976 “I thought of the beautiful cool evening, how I long to be walking in it outside this cell. All of this took place while I sat in the semi-dark reading a book. The thoughts on freedom were only momentary but so powerful that they seem to tear my… Continue reading The Ministry of Story
Voices carry
Eskişehir, Türkiye Tuesday 16 April 2024 Above: A spectrogram (0-5000 Hz) of the sentence “It’s all Greek to me.” spoken by a female voice World Voice Day (WVD) is a worldwide annual event that takes place on 16 April devoted to the celebration of the phenomenon of voice. The aim is to demonstrate the enormous importance of… Continue reading Voices carry
Beyond Buddy Bears
Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Türkiye Sunday 7 April 2024 “With the deep unconscious sigh which not even the nearness of the telescreen could prevent him from uttering when his day’s work started, Winston pulled the speak-write towards him.” With the deep unconscious sigh which not even the closeness of my sleeping companion can prevent me from sighing… Continue reading Beyond Buddy Bears
Pendik possibilities
Above: Images of Pendil, Istanbul, Türkiye Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Türkiye Sunday 7 April 2024 “Yesterday I spoke to playwright and humourist Karlweis about keeping a diary. He said it was good to get into the habit of reckoning up with yourself, but that one never confronts oneself with the whole truth, there is always an element… Continue reading Pendik possibilities
Horizontal colloboration
Eskişehir, Türkiye Saturday 6 April 2024 “I am very happy these spring days. Each morning I wake between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., then make tea, read for a while, work until 7:30, when I go for a walk. Through the window I watch the day begin, from first grey light to full sunrise, as,… Continue reading Horizontal colloboration
The inner light
Eskişehir, Türkiye Friday 5 April 2024 “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love,… Continue reading The inner light
Rites of passage
Eskişehir, Türkiye Thursday 4 April 2024 “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. From the table drawer he took out a penholder, a bottle of ink, and a thick, quarto-sized blank book with a red back and a marbled cover. It was a peculiarly beautiful book. Its smooth… Continue reading Rites of passage
A man of letters
Eskişehir, Türkiye Wednesday 3 April 2024 “What some people find in religion a writer may find in his craft, a kind of breaking through to glory.“ (John Steinbeck) Above: American writer John Steinbeck (1902 – 1968) “How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?“ (John Steinbeck, The… Continue reading A man of letters
Across the purple hill
Eskişehir, Türkiye Tuesday 2 April 2024 “A life is full of isolated events, but these events, if they are to form a coherent narrative, require odd pieces of language to link them together, little chips of grammar (mostly adverbs or prepositions) that are hard to define words like ‘therefore’, ‘else’, ‘other’ ‘also’, ‘thereof’, ‘therefore’, ‘instead’,… Continue reading Across the purple hill
Revolving doors
Eskişehir, Türkiye Monday 1 April 2024 Local elections in Türkiye took place on 31 March 2024 throughout the country’s 81 provinces. A total of 30 metropolitan and 1,363 district municipal mayors, alongside 1,282 provincial and 21,001 municipal councillors were elected, in addition to numerous local non-partisan positions such as neighbourhood wardens (muhtars) and elderly people’s councils. The… Continue reading Revolving doors