Professional/Personal Overview
Istanbul-based freelance writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience in feature, news, and lifestyle coverage for print and online media. I specialize in environmental, social, and urban issues, as well as arts, culture, and travel.
Work Info
Expertise
Copy Editor
5 Years
Editor
15 Years
Writer
15 Years
Specialty
Travel
5 Years
Environment & Nature
13 Years
Politics
15 Years
Total Media Industry Experience
15 Years
Media Client List (# assignments
last 2 yrs)
TreeHugger.com (11+), Selections (3-5), Time Out Istanbul (3-5), SimonSeeks (1-2), Women's eNews (1-2), Atlantic Cities (1-2), BBC Wildlife (1-2), Ethical Corporation (1-2), Fodor's (1-2), Gulf Life (1-2), IPS (1-2), J Magazine (1-2), Salon (1-2)
Other Work History
Front page editor, Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul, Turkey)
Equipment
Laptop, digital camera
Foreign Language Skills
Intermediate Turkish
Awards
Edited or co-edited three Maggie Award-winning pieces for Sierra, plus two nominated articles.
Other
Extensive blogging experience on a variety of online publishing platforms; social-media savvy; basic HTML and Photoshop skills; published photographer.
Freelancer Availability
I freelance full-time. I am willing to travel anywhere. I have a driver's license.
Work Samples
Women's Rights
(Women's eNews , 2/15/2013)
Artist Derya Kilic's recent exhibit portrayed familiar female faces from famous artworks all marred by cuts and bruises. Her intent is to reflect the pervasion of sexual violence by making viewers see that it afflicts women "they know."
(Women's eNews , 7/17/2012)
Renewed debate over abortion rights in Turkey has women wondering whether gender equality is being left behind as the country seeks to position itself as a model for the Middle East.
(IPS , 4/22/2012)
Worldwide, women are largely responsible for managing family budgets, controlling 65 percent of global spending. But, women's needs are often ignored when it comes to government budgeting, delegates at an international meet in Turkey's largest city observed.
Urban Issues
(The Atlantic Cities , 7/2/2012)
Many Athens residents have been struggling to get by since economic and political crisis erupted in Greece. But the 80,000 people who collect and process scrap in the city's informal economy were eking out their meager livings back when the rest of the city was still living large.
(Women's eNews , 5/6/2012)
Life isn't easy for the female migrants continually flowing into Istanbul from Turkey's Kurdish region. Those who are illiterate or unable to speak Turkish can face particularly intense isolation from basic services.
Travel
(Time Out Istanbul , 3/1/2012)
The spectacular landscapes around Kars beckon birdwatchers, nature-lovers and history buffs
(Time Out Istanbul , 10/1/2011)
Explore the abundant natural beauty and archaeological richness of Hasankeyf, Turkey.
(Salon , 12/1/2010)
After a close call with a suicide bomber in Turkey, I wondered if I was safe living abroad. But home had danger too.
(Sierra , 5/1/2009)
It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the blackness, but once they do, the dark erupts with light. Bright bluish pinpoints cluster into constellations over our heads as we float down the Waitomo River--some 50 feet underground.
Environment
(BBC Wildlife , 7/1/2012)
DIY lighting idea provides new solution to the age-old issue of lions predating livestock.
(Ethical Corporation , 9/2/2011)
There are plenty of well-meaning sustainability initiatives under way in Turkey, but a cultural movement for change has yet to take hold.
(Sierra , 5/1/2006)
Can Puerto Rico preserve its Caribbean beauty as it pursues the American dream?
Food
(Zester Daily , 12/26/2012)
A common sight on Istanbul tables in recent weeks, asure, which may be the world's oldest dessert, is an unusual blend of savory and sweet. The dish is seen by some as the epitome of the Turkish "melting pot."
(Istanbul Eats , 5/30/2011)
Chef Didem Senol's contemporary twist on Turkish fare achieves a balance that will satisfy diners' yens for both tradition and innovation.
Arts and Culture
(Gulf Life , 10/1/2012)
This is the latest trend to hit Istanbul: the office block as art gallery.
(California , 6/1/2010)
Recalling Harriet Lane Levy's unusual, eclectic life.
(Wired , 6/1/2009)
In the Middle Ages, while Europeans were busy warring, plundering, and burning heretics at the stake, Muslim scholars were refining the scientific method, developing effective cardiac drugs, and building celestial observatories--yet over time their contributions were largely forgotten.
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June 4, 2013 | San Francisco
