May we celebrate our holiday, which was first named “Gazi Day” in 1926, then “Atatürk Day” in 1935, “Youth and Sports Day” in 1938, and finally “Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day” in 1981, the centenary of Atatürk's birth. The departure of the Bandırma steamer from Istanbul to Samsun on 19 May 1919 marked the beginning of the War of Independence. In 1926, celebrations were held in Samsun in honour of “Gazi Day”. On 24 May 1935, also known as “Atatürk Day”, sports

You have turned the final page of the book you have been reading, finally finishing it. You close the cover and start to think about it. Perhaps it was an impressive novel, or maybe you just wanted to get it over with — a book you wouldn't want to read again. Now it's time for some of you to review it. How will you rate the book? What value will you place on it? Which criteria will you pay attention to when rating it? I sometimes organise the novels on my bookshelf by the dat

Loading New Simulation Everyone's talking about artificial intelligence, and mankind is making rapid progress in this field. But is this development always positive? As the negative aspects come to light, we realise that this technology is both a curse and a blessing. It is very boring to talk about the issues on the agenda. To be honest, I can't bear to read another article about artificial intelligence. But when I read personal experiences or little-known experiences of oth

An aesthetic and statistical approach via “Herland” The perception of literature is abstract and intellectual. At least most of us have this attitude. Moreover, we do not find this strange. Analytical and rational form is hardly expected. But poems can have layers, can't they? If we write with certain forms or restrictions, we can enjoy different styles. We can create a completely different image and structure. As another example, at the end of a book we can make logical enqu

Reading or writing every day can be really difficult if we haven't made these habits a priority in our lives. And even if we love to write, we may not always want to pick up a pen. This is natural. But what if we imagine the opposite? Imagine that you wanted to write every day. What do you think would be the ideal time? Would you be more drawn to the freshness of the morning, the chaos of the day or the silence of the night? Everyone has some constants in their daily routine.

When we think of a character in a novel, the first thing that comes to mind may be superficial. Then we can go into more detail and try to give them a personality. Sometimes we can multiply our examples with different characterisations. Most of the time, however, our priority is not the setting itself. Well, can the setting really be enough to influence the novel? Most of the time the setting is a figurehead, an object in the background. It is like an actor whose name does no

Colours are powerful phenomena, both scientifically and psychologically. Whether we are aware of it or not, we feel them in almost every aspect of our lives. Sometimes they give new meanings, sometimes they make existing meanings more visible and understandable. In science, this subject is known as “colour theory”. Isaac Newton's studies of colour spectra and Goethe's colour wheel are the cornerstones of this field. Since then, various colour wheels (primary, secondary and te

If I had asked you exactly one year ago what you were doing, what you were thinking or what situation you were in, would you have been able to give me a definite answer? Probably not. But there is a way of knowing. There is an idea that I have adopted as a principle, and I do not hesitate to express it often, both in my writings and in conversations with my friends, when the subject comes up. A person's life can change completely in at least 6-12 months. Let's scale that up.

Literature is not only a means of aesthetic pleasure; it is also a weapon, a mirror and a rallying cry. Throughout history, writers have used their words as a sword against oppressive regimes, social inequalities and all kinds of forces that shackle the human spirit. Victor Hugo's glorification of the poor on the streets of Paris, Nazım Hikmet's chain-breaking verses or George Orwell's exposure of totalitarian darkness show how literature becomes a transformative force when i

When a writer changes his name, it is not just a matter of putting on a mask; sometimes it is a matter of completely rebuilding his literary identity, and sometimes it is a matter of creating a whole new soul. Becoming a completely different person, finally expressing what was inside and diversifying it with the roles he takes on, helps to create literary value. Pseudonyms (or pen names in literature) have often been used in the history of literature to conceal the identity o

When you want to write fiction, you can sometimes get lost in the struggle to find a subject. Then everything starts to seem absurd and meaningless, and the last shred of inspiration slips away. You resort to desperate procrastination or wander a few more streets in your mind, knocking on the door of other dreams. It will be a rare discourse, but this time I am not on the side of the victim. On the contrary, after a long break, I started the new month more sociable and creati

Writing science fiction has become a puzzle. It feels like every idea has been written down, every dream or assumption has succumbed to the speed of technology. How satisfying or original can ideas be in such an age? I thought about this question again after receiving a note some time ago. The reason was to write a story in a genre I had not written in recently. The first thing I did was to read to get a good understanding of the genre. Then I tried to remember exemplary lite

Choosing books is a complex process that can be shaped by both personal and social influences. Whether we are aware of it or not, we often make choices based on different criteria. One of these may be a preference for experienced, well-known and successful authors. This is actually quite understandable, as one might think that “if the work has been widely read, if no one has ever stopped talking about it, if it has been mentioned in the media, it cannot be that bad”. Dependin

What is the first thing we do when we open our eyes in the morning? We probably look at our phone screen. Check the notifications that have accumulated overnight, maybe just check the time. But the strange thing is that most of the time we don't do it consciously. It has almost become a reflex. We are drawn into the digital world in the early hours of the morning and we cannot get out of it throughout the day. But how much of this is by choice and how much is just digital noi

On 28 January, the Doomsday Clock , which symbolises the global threats facing humanity, was updated, reminding the world once again how close we are to danger. I came across it again and researched its full history. Today I am going to write about it. Founded in 1945 by Einstein, Oppenheimer and a group of nuclear engineers, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created this clock in 1947 with the images of the apocalypse (midnight)  and the nuclear end (approaching zero) .

One of the goals I set myself last year was to write a story every month. Unfortunately, I was not able to fully achieve this. In addition to the 4 stories I finished, there were so many that I left unfinished. I literally look at that file every day and sigh. It hurts that I haven't finished the missing ones, but I don't feel tempted to start something if I don't feel like it. So I asked myself again what motivates me on a personal level. I put the shortcomings aside for the

Yesterday I started writing a short story, and thankfully I was able to finish it during the day. I had intended to leave it for another day. But when I started it suddenly, when my head was empty, the end came quickly. I had a lot of fun writing it, but there was one point that was important to me. I had to face my most difficult subject while writing it. Writing short, or in this context, writing to a limited word count. As the limit we set for our writing club is around 30

Yesterday was the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), a writer I have been thinking about a lot over the last few months and who has always influenced me when I read him. For this reason, I wanted to talk about his poems and present the style of poetry that has been on my mind for a long time. Literary works are created by mixing emotions, questions, inquiries, answers, assumptions and lies (fictions) with different genres, themes and subjects. Here, both the author's st

We have entered the first quarter of this century. This has given me helpful ideas for all sorts of beginnings. Some of them I have already started, but there are a few that I want to keep going for a long time. As a project for this month, I plan to leave a time capsule for the next quarter. Actually, I was going to write this before New Year's Eve, but since it might be similar to New Year's resolutions, I decided to tackle it at the beginning of 2025. It's better that way.

Every new year, creative people leave some gifts to humanity. What those gifts are is revealed on the very first day. Yes, 1 January was "Public Domain Day". As you know, most works of art are protected by copyright as soon as they are created. But although works are immortal, people are not. Therefore, these works are no longer personal values, but are now shared with humanity, with us. Of course, if there are various foundations and organisations to protect these works, the