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Reading Under the Olive Tree | Books, Literature, and Meditations on Life

Explore world literature and meaning-making with scholar Neriman Kuyucu. Deep reflections on postcolonial narratives, migration, and the craft of writing.

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Tag: history

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On Writing a Book & a Summer of Many Edits

October 14, 2025May 30, 2026 Neriman Kuyucu

My book, Muslimness in Contemporary Literary Imaginations: Twenty-First-Century Muslim Women’s Writing in the Diaspora, has now been released by Routledge under the Routledge Research in Postcolonial Literature series. Continue reading On Writing a Book & a Summer of Many Edits

reflections, Travel Series12 Comments

Istanbul, Not Constantinople… ?

July 30, 2019June 23, 2020 Neriman Kuyucu

.. I’m from Istanbul. No, really. Originally. My great-great-great-great x great grandparents had been Ottomans. I don’t know what ethnicity, but yes, Istanbulites. No, not Arabs. Rums, you say? Maybe. I’ve always suspected that. No, not Armenian. But maybe. Continue reading Istanbul, Not Constantinople… ?

all things literary, reflections, writing1 Comment

The Power to Narrate: Narrative as Resistance in Sudan

June 21, 2019May 31, 2026 Neriman Kuyucu

Fiction has the power to uncover what is left unsaid in headlines and social media posts. It disrupts the chain of narratives that insidiously silence the voices of those who demand to be heard. Continue reading The Power to Narrate: Narrative as Resistance in Sudan

writing, Uncategorized23 Comments

about me

June 19, 2019May 31, 2026 Neriman Kuyucu

As a self-proclaimed hyphenated spirit, I’ve dedicated my life to exploring what it means to be home. Growing up in Turkey and living in Europe and the U.S. have brought me closer to finding an answer to the complex question of home. Or so I thought. Continue reading about me

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