Istanbul
Writing

Istanbul is the only city in the world on two continents. It knows exactly what this means.

Two continents · Bosphorus light · The weight of empire

The Bosphorus divides Istanbul into European and Asian halves, which means every crossing of the strait is philosophically loaded whether you intend it to be or not. The city was Constantinople for a thousand years before it was Istanbul. It holds its history the way a body holds injury — functional, carrying it, occasionally reminded. The minarets and the skyscrapers exist in the same photograph without irony.

"On the ferry from Karaköy to Kadıköy a man played the saz and nobody listened in the way that means everyone was listening. The Asian shore approached. Europe receded. This happened every fifteen minutes in both directions, all day, all week, all year."

Tumbleweed Words — Istanbul

The Istanbul pieces engage with the formal challenge of writing about a city too large and too dense with meaning for any single perspective to contain. The solution, in these pieces, is hyper-specificity: one ferry crossing, one street stall, one conversation in broken shared vocabulary. The city is approached from below rather than above.

David — Tumbleweed Words Flash fiction and poetry written on trains, in hostels, and in city streets. Published in Litro, Adelaide Magazine, Cleaver Magazine, and The Dundee Anthology. Pushcart-nominated. Five years on Substack.