Thursday, November 06, 2008
Expat Harem Editor Gives MSNBC Commentary on Obama ElectionFollowing the election of Barack Obama, on November 5th, Jennifer Eaton Gökmen was invited to NTV/MSNBC’s Sade Vatandas program to give her reaction to and assessment of the historical event. Broadcast live (in Turkish), the evening talk show is hosted by Turkey’s most popular late night personality, Okan Bayulgen.
Other panelists that evening included Galip Sukaya, head of the American Business Forum in Turkey;
Istem Erdener, translator of Obama’s book Dreams from my Father; and Istanbul-based African-American photographer Frank Payne , with discussion ranging from the emotional impact of the election to America’s economic recovery and the world’s expectations of the 44th president to be.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Expat Harem Contributors Win Award
Three Expat Harem contributors --Katherine Belliel, Amanda Coffin, and Trici Venola—whose writing appears in the Travelers’ Tales anthology Encounters with the Middle East (December 2007) are happy to announce the anthology’s recent awards.
Three Expat Harem contributors --Katherine Belliel, Amanda Coffin, and Trici Venola—whose writing appears in the Travelers’ Tales anthology Encounters with the Middle East (December 2007) are happy to announce the anthology’s recent awards.
With an introduction by Bruce Feiler (author of Walking the Bible), Encounters has garnered both the 2008 Indie Book Award for Current Events and the 2008 Thomas Travel Journalism Award for Best Travel Book.
The Expat Harem contributors’ stories in this collection include Katherine Belliel’s “Instant Mother, Just Add Tea”; “Repatriation and Regret" by Amanda Coffin; and “Just Under Your Feet” by Tricia Venola.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Honored Guests of the Guests of Honor at Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair –the largest annual event for the publishing industry—will be focusing on Turkey this year as its country of honor. In turn, Expat Harem will be promoted as well, not only at Dogan Kitap’s stand (the original publisher of both the English and Turkish editions of Expat Harem), but also highlighted at TURSAB’s stand (The Association of Turkish Travel Agencies).
In addition, Expat Harem will be featured at the Ministry of Culture’s main stand for Turkey. Expat Harem is being eagerly considered for the Ministry of Culture’s TEDA Project to promote foreign language editions of the anthology through government underwriting of the production cost for foreign publishing houses. With all eyes on Turkey at FBF this year, Expat Harem may soon be gracing bookshelves in many more languages...
Frankfurt Book Fair –the largest annual event for the publishing industry—will be focusing on Turkey this year as its country of honor. In turn, Expat Harem will be promoted as well, not only at Dogan Kitap’s stand (the original publisher of both the English and Turkish editions of Expat Harem), but also highlighted at TURSAB’s stand (The Association of Turkish Travel Agencies).
In addition, Expat Harem will be featured at the Ministry of Culture’s main stand for Turkey. Expat Harem is being eagerly considered for the Ministry of Culture’s TEDA Project to promote foreign language editions of the anthology through government underwriting of the production cost for foreign publishing houses. With all eyes on Turkey at FBF this year, Expat Harem may soon be gracing bookshelves in many more languages...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Multi Media Mania: Expat Harem Popping Up Everywhere
DOCUMENTARIES
Official production on Istanbul-based VTR’s film about the making of Expat Harem will begin in October, destined for the Istanbul European Culture Capital 2010 celebrations. Designed as a 90-minute film in four 23-minute parts, it will be able to be shown both as a full length film and as a television series.
Expat Harem editor Anastasia Ashman has been consulting producers of the History Channel’s production of Underground Cities, and with the help of Expat Harem writer Maureen Basedow recommending local archaeologists and ancient historians as on-camera experts for the Istanbul shoot in October. Expat Harem writer Kathleen Hamilton will appear in the program leading the crew into some of her favorite subterranean spots.
For a Channel 4 (UK) production of a television travelogue based on Lord Byron’s transformative 19th century Grand Tour (with actor Rupert Everett following in his footsteps), Anastasia is helping the filmmakers find what’s “Byronic” about modern day Istanbul, and what expatriate high-life and low-life Everett might like to investigate when he hits the former Constantinople in October.
LIFESTYLE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINES
Expat Harem editor Jennifer Eaton Gökmen’s travel writing advice has been quoted by the award-winning Vagabonding author Rolf Potts in his recent 19 September interview on the Lost Girls World blog , a trendy travel site penned by three twenty-something New Yorkers who abandoned their media jobs to embark on a yearlong, round-the-world journey. In discussing his latest book, Marco Polo Didn't Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer, Potts, who has reported from more than fifty countries for media outlets like National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, and Conde Nast Traveler, lists Jennifer’s travel writing advice in his “seven lessons learned from a decade of interviewing top travel writers”. Among the quotes Potts culled from seven years of interviews, Jennifer’s stands alongside words of wisdom from notable travel scribes Arthur Frommer, Pico Iyer, and Tim Cahill.
Anastasia is the subject of a profile in the October issue of Swissper, the state-of-the-art lifestyle magazine of Swissotel, a member of the Raffles Group of worldwide luxury hotels. She answers questions about her favorite Turkish landscapes, historical sites, pasttimes and cuisine. The magazine is distributed to 15,000 business executives, society figures and opinion leaders as well as Swissotel guests.
Expat Harem editors have been asked to contribute a mini-portrait of city for the March 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler, and women-savvy suggestions for 2008’s Best Travel Tips at Journeywoman.com.
Anastasia is contributing insider Istanbul tips for an upcoming issue of NBpulse, the high-end publication for discerning international travelers. (See the web version at www.nbpulse.com)
DOCUMENTARIES
Official production on Istanbul-based VTR’s film about the making of Expat Harem will begin in October, destined for the Istanbul European Culture Capital 2010 celebrations. Designed as a 90-minute film in four 23-minute parts, it will be able to be shown both as a full length film and as a television series.
Expat Harem editor Anastasia Ashman has been consulting producers of the History Channel’s production of Underground Cities, and with the help of Expat Harem writer Maureen Basedow recommending local archaeologists and ancient historians as on-camera experts for the Istanbul shoot in October. Expat Harem writer Kathleen Hamilton will appear in the program leading the crew into some of her favorite subterranean spots.
For a Channel 4 (UK) production of a television travelogue based on Lord Byron’s transformative 19th century Grand Tour (with actor Rupert Everett following in his footsteps), Anastasia is helping the filmmakers find what’s “Byronic” about modern day Istanbul, and what expatriate high-life and low-life Everett might like to investigate when he hits the former Constantinople in October.
LIFESTYLE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINES
Expat Harem editor Jennifer Eaton Gökmen’s travel writing advice has been quoted by the award-winning Vagabonding author Rolf Potts in his recent 19 September interview on the Lost Girls World blog , a trendy travel site penned by three twenty-something New Yorkers who abandoned their media jobs to embark on a yearlong, round-the-world journey. In discussing his latest book, Marco Polo Didn't Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer, Potts, who has reported from more than fifty countries for media outlets like National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, and Conde Nast Traveler, lists Jennifer’s travel writing advice in his “seven lessons learned from a decade of interviewing top travel writers”. Among the quotes Potts culled from seven years of interviews, Jennifer’s stands alongside words of wisdom from notable travel scribes Arthur Frommer, Pico Iyer, and Tim Cahill.
Anastasia is the subject of a profile in the October issue of Swissper, the state-of-the-art lifestyle magazine of Swissotel, a member of the Raffles Group of worldwide luxury hotels. She answers questions about her favorite Turkish landscapes, historical sites, pasttimes and cuisine. The magazine is distributed to 15,000 business executives, society figures and opinion leaders as well as Swissotel guests.
Expat Harem editors have been asked to contribute a mini-portrait of city for the March 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler, and women-savvy suggestions for 2008’s Best Travel Tips at Journeywoman.com.
Anastasia is contributing insider Istanbul tips for an upcoming issue of NBpulse, the high-end publication for discerning international travelers. (See the web version at www.nbpulse.com)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Expat Harem Editor Jennifer Gökmen Coaches Extreme Sport: Public Speaking
If you ask Jennifer Gökmen, Speech & Debate is an extreme sport. Perhaps it isn’t death-defying, but an estimated 75% of the world’s population fear it...sometimes more than death, according to Wikipedia. The sheer adrenaline rush often gained by standing in front of a crowd and having to express one’s self certainly can make it feel like an extreme sport!
So, who is she coaching? Gökmen is training the middle school and high school students on the Speech & Debate team of Istanbul International Community School. The world’s oldest international school, IICS is a member of the Central and Eastern European Schools Association which oranizes intramural events for the region’s international schools. The first Speech & Debate Tournament will be held in Budapest in November.
Gökmen brings to the team her experience as a former television host on Turkey’s TRT channel and as co-founder of the Istanbul chapter of Toastmaster's International... not to mention her experience as a former high school forensics team member herself!
If you ask Jennifer Gökmen, Speech & Debate is an extreme sport. Perhaps it isn’t death-defying, but an estimated 75% of the world’s population fear it...sometimes more than death, according to Wikipedia. The sheer adrenaline rush often gained by standing in front of a crowd and having to express one’s self certainly can make it feel like an extreme sport!
So, who is she coaching? Gökmen is training the middle school and high school students on the Speech & Debate team of Istanbul International Community School. The world’s oldest international school, IICS is a member of the Central and Eastern European Schools Association which oranizes intramural events for the region’s international schools. The first Speech & Debate Tournament will be held in Budapest in November.
Gökmen brings to the team her experience as a former television host on Turkey’s TRT channel and as co-founder of the Istanbul chapter of Toastmaster's International... not to mention her experience as a former high school forensics team member herself!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Expat Harem Editors on NYC's #1 Late Night Radio Show
Anastasia Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gökmen appeared for two hours this week on America's nationally syndicated Joey Reynolds Radio Show, the #1-rated late night program out of New York City. The show was recorded at Istanbul's Radyo D studio in the Dogan Media Center and will be broadcast on the WOR network to 100 American markets, reaching more than 5 million listeners from New York to Hawaii. The veteran '60s era talk-radio star Joey Reynolds interviewed Anastasia and Jennifer about life in Turkey and featured Tales from the Expat Harem, which his producer and fellow on-air personality Myra Chanin read and loved. A legend in the talk radio field, Reynolds is often referred to as the pioneerof the irreverent "shock-talk" radio style and has been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Anastasia Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gökmen appeared for two hours this week on America's nationally syndicated Joey Reynolds Radio Show, the #1-rated late night program out of New York City. The show was recorded at Istanbul's Radyo D studio in the Dogan Media Center and will be broadcast on the WOR network to 100 American markets, reaching more than 5 million listeners from New York to Hawaii. The veteran '60s era talk-radio star Joey Reynolds interviewed Anastasia and Jennifer about life in Turkey and featured Tales from the Expat Harem, which his producer and fellow on-air personality Myra Chanin read and loved. A legend in the talk radio field, Reynolds is often referred to as the pioneerof the irreverent "shock-talk" radio style and has been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Expat Harem Editor Anastasia Ashman Cohosts Turkey's First Global Nomad SalonWith all its disparate cultural facets, could Turkey be a model for integration - for today's hybrid identity individuals? On June 26th twenty-five social scientists, businesspeople and cultural thought leaders gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sultanahmet in the shadow of the Haghia Sophia to try to answer that question when Anastasia Ashman cohosted the country's first Global Nomad Salon.
She partnered with Janera Soerel, the New York-based founder of a series of intellectual dinner parties (see Janera.com, theonline magazine and members-only social network which explores issues of global citizenship).
Expert guests at Thursday's rooftop cocktail and dinner included Neşe Gündoğan (secretary general of the National Turkish Olympic Committee), Şerif Kaynar (country managing director of executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry) and global intercultural trainer Ferhan Alesi, as well as Tara Hopkins, the recipient of an Open Society/Soros Foundation grant to create a civic involvement program at Istanbul's Sabancı University. The VTR crew directed by veteran documentarian Enis Riza filmed the event as part of its on-going production of an Expat Harem film.
With other local co-hosts, Janera plans upcoming events in Amsterdam, Paris, London, Miami and Buenos Aires, as well as the first Global Nomad Retreat in Tuscany in September.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Expat Harem’s Experts: Authors, Speakers, and Television Guests
Our knowledgable Expat Harem contributors have once more been called upon to share their expertise on topics Turkish. We applaud their myriad successes!
Sally Green and Susan Fleming Holm Speak at Northwestern University
On April 21st at the Roberta Buffet Center for International and Comparative Studies in Chicago, Sally and Susan presented a discussion on Expat Harem and modern Turkey as part of Northwestern University's BCICS Keyman Modern Turkish Studies series. Plied with questions by an engaged audience afterwards, Sally and Susan plan to develop similar events together for more venues in the future.
Sally Green is an instructor in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric at Colorado University at Boulder. Susan Fleming Holm is the Dorothy Donald Professor of Modern Foreign Languages at Monmouth College.
Kathleen Hamilton Gundogdu Featured on American Public Television
This month on American public television, Rudy Maxa's World aired a travel segment on Istanbul featuring Expat Harem writer and personal shopper Kathleen Hamilton Gundogdu as she revealed the innerworkings of the Grand Bazaar and showed Rudy how to bargain.
Kathleen, a columnist for top English-language national newspaper in Turkey, Today’s Zaman, is also a regular contributor to international periodicals such as London-based Taste Anatolia and Hali magazines.
Jessica Lutz’s Latest Book on Turkey
Congratulations to Jessica Lutz whose book Gezichten van Istanbul, verhalen over een stad tussen twee continenten (Faces of Istanbul: Tales From a City Between Two Continents) was published by Uitgeverij Conserve in the Netherlands this spring. She’s now working on the English translation of this lyrical portrait of the Turkish city which holds her heart.
A veteran journalist for Dutch television and resident of Turkey for nearly two decades, Jessica also shared her perspective on the dark side of the city in the anthology Istanbul Noir, to be released in November. Her first book on Turkey, De Gouden Appel, was published in 2002 by Uitgeverij De Geus.
Our knowledgable Expat Harem contributors have once more been called upon to share their expertise on topics Turkish. We applaud their myriad successes!
Sally Green and Susan Fleming Holm Speak at Northwestern UniversityOn April 21st at the Roberta Buffet Center for International and Comparative Studies in Chicago, Sally and Susan presented a discussion on Expat Harem and modern Turkey as part of Northwestern University's BCICS Keyman Modern Turkish Studies series. Plied with questions by an engaged audience afterwards, Sally and Susan plan to develop similar events together for more venues in the future.
Sally Green is an instructor in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric at Colorado University at Boulder. Susan Fleming Holm is the Dorothy Donald Professor of Modern Foreign Languages at Monmouth College.
Kathleen Hamilton Gundogdu Featured on American Public TelevisionThis month on American public television, Rudy Maxa's World aired a travel segment on Istanbul featuring Expat Harem writer and personal shopper Kathleen Hamilton Gundogdu as she revealed the innerworkings of the Grand Bazaar and showed Rudy how to bargain.
Kathleen, a columnist for top English-language national newspaper in Turkey, Today’s Zaman, is also a regular contributor to international periodicals such as London-based Taste Anatolia and Hali magazines.
Jessica Lutz’s Latest Book on Turkey Congratulations to Jessica Lutz whose book Gezichten van Istanbul, verhalen over een stad tussen twee continenten (Faces of Istanbul: Tales From a City Between Two Continents) was published by Uitgeverij Conserve in the Netherlands this spring. She’s now working on the English translation of this lyrical portrait of the Turkish city which holds her heart.
A veteran journalist for Dutch television and resident of Turkey for nearly two decades, Jessica also shared her perspective on the dark side of the city in the anthology Istanbul Noir, to be released in November. Her first book on Turkey, De Gouden Appel, was published in 2002 by Uitgeverij De Geus.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
EXPAT HAREM ON NBC’S TODAY SHOW
Where in the World is Matt Lauer? is an annual travel series of NBC's Today Show, America's #1 morning network TV program. During Where in the World, for one week Matt Lauer pops up in a different global city each day.
Where in the World is Matt Lauer? is an annual travel series of NBC's Today Show, America's #1 morning network TV program. During Where in the World, for one week Matt Lauer pops up in a different global city each day.
On Day 4 Matt arrived in Istanbul, interviewing Expat Harem editors Anastasia and Jennifer live in front of the Haghia Sofia --and in front of 5.4 million viewers at home in the United States!
The Today Show also featured Tales from the Expat Harem, the only book mentioned on the three hour telecast. View the Expat Harem interview here or below.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Expat Harem Editors Named Favorite Travel Writers in Travel + Leisure
In the April 2008 Turkish edition of Travel + Leisure magazine, Istanbul-based travel writer Saffet Emre Tonguc shares a list of his favorite writers. Among them are authors and contributors to veteran guidebooks like Lonely Planet and Dorling Kindersley, Frommers and Conde Nast’s Traveler magazine, as well as longtime Istanbul expatriate John Freely – and Expat Harem editors Anastasia and Jennifer.
In the April 2008 Turkish edition of Travel + Leisure magazine, Istanbul-based travel writer Saffet Emre Tonguc shares a list of his favorite writers. Among them are authors and contributors to veteran guidebooks like Lonely Planet and Dorling Kindersley, Frommers and Conde Nast’s Traveler magazine, as well as longtime Istanbul expatriate John Freely – and Expat Harem editors Anastasia and Jennifer.
