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THE BOOK
As the Western world struggles to comprehend the paradoxes of
modern Turkey, a country both European and Asian, forward-looking yet rooted in
ancient empire, a new nonfiction anthology promises to reveal its most personal
nuances.
Introducing TALES FROM THE EXPAT HAREM: Foreign Women in
Modern Turkey, edited by Anastasia M. Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gokmen.
This critically-acclaimed collection invites you into the Turkey
that thirty-two women from seven nations know, their experiences spanning the
entire country and the last four decades in true tales of cultural conflict and
discovery.
Humorous and poignant travelogue takes you to weddings and
workplaces, down cobbled Byzantine streets, into boisterous bazaars along the
Silk Road and deep into the feminine powerbases of steamy Ottoman hamam
bathhouses. Subtext illuminates journeys of the soul.
Australian and Central American, North American and British,
Dutch and Pakistani, our narrators demonstrate the evolutions Turkish culture
has shepherded in their lives: assimilation into friendship, neighborhood,
wifehood, and motherhood. From a Bryn Mawr archaeologist at Troy to the
Christian missionary in Istanbul, clothing designers and scholars along the
Aegean and the Mediterranean coastlines, the Peace Corps volunteer in Eastern
Turkey to a journalist at the Iraqi border -- and many others -- our
storytellers are ambitious women, pursuing business ownership and property
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Shown here at #1 in
January 2006
Click here to
see bestseller listings |
The anachronistic title
acknowledges erroneous yet prevalent Western stereotypes about Asia Minor and
the entire Muslim world, while declaring that the writers are akin to foreign
brides of the Seraglio, the 15th century seat of the Ottoman sultanate: wedded
to the culture of the land, embedded in it even, and yet alien nonetheless.
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“If a Turkish harem was once a confined coterie of women, a
setting steeped in the feminine culture of its era, this newly coined community
of expatriate women in modern Turkey surely follows in its tradition,” says
Ashman, an essayist from California, whose cultural journalism has appeared
worldwide, from The Asian Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong to The Village Voice
in New York City.
“The Expat Harem serves as a peer-filled network, a source of
foreign female wisdom,” adds co-editor Gokmen, a Michigan-born writer and
twelve-year resident of Turkey. “Delving into the interiors of country and
psyche in a culturally Mediterranean land with a Muslim majority, the women of
our Expat Harem reveal a deep affinity for their adopted country.”
For comments or questions, please
email us.
PRAISED BY
ACADEMIC JOURNAL
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EDITORS AWARDED
Editors
honored with 2006
Daughters of Ataturk
"Woman of Distinction Award"
along with notable women from four countries..
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EDITORS
FEATURED ON TODAY SHOW
WHERE IN THE
WORLD IS MATT LAUER?'s 9th season show stopped in
Istanbul for day 4 of their tour. Matt interviewed
Anastasia and Jennifer live, asking their expert opinion
on Turkey and Turkish culture. View interview--
ISTANBUL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. |
EDITORS CREATE EXPAT
HAREM EXPEDITIONS
Savor the sights of Turkey
as if you lived here... Introducing
EXPAT HAREM EXPEDITIONS--uncommon Turkish outings designed by expat insiders.
Operated by the veteran
Karavan Travel Group, countrywide tours
offer visitors the advantage of cultural wisdom amassed by this
land’s foreign residents. Visit favorite places and sights
featured in the book, commune with Turks far from the usual
tourist path. Even meet an Expat Harem writer or two! Come to
know the Turkey that we love. For additional information, please
email us. |
FILMING STARTS
ON EXPAT
HAREM DOCUMENTARY
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VTR,
a top Turkish documentary production house, has begun
production on an Expat Harem film project inspired by
the book, including the making of the anthology, our
stories, and the stories of a selection of other foreign
nationals. Veteran director Enis Riza often
exhibits his work at international film festivals in
Berlin and Cannes. Release of this Expat Harem project
is aimed to coincide with the 2010 Istanbul European
Culture Capital celebrations. |
HITS NATIONAL BESTSELLER
LISTS IN
USA & UK
#1 Bestseller at
Amazon US and
Barnes & Noble in four
categories; Top 10 in Asia, Middle East Travel, Turkey, and
Travel Essay categories;
#2 in Amazon UK's Turkey category; and
Top
10 in Waterstone's Turkey Travel Writing. #3
yearlong bestseller at Seattle travel bookstore
Wide World Books.
USED BY
UNIVERSITIES
The
University of Michigan,
Indiana University Bloomington,
the
University of Richmond,
the University of British Columbia,
Dalhousie University,
the
University of California/Santa
Barbara,
and
University of Colorado are
using EXPAT HAREM in graduate and undergraduate courses on Turkish
history, culture and travel literature. High schools like
The Park School
in Maryland are using EXPAT HAREM in Ottoman
History classes, and an excerpt was used by teachers in 10,000 US middle schools
subscribing to the educational magazine
World & I.
RECOMMENDED BY
TRAVEL EXPERTS
as preparation for your Turkish
tour
FOREWORD BY
TURKEY'S TOP FEMALE NOVELIST
Doğan Kitap edition
features an emotional essay by celebrated writer
Elif Shafak
NAMED BEST TRAVEL WRITING OF 2006
Travelers' Tales selected 'A
Fine Kettle of Fish' for its annual
anthology of top travel writing.
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