“The time I spent in the RC library taught me 70% of what I know about literature.”

Prolific author Cem Akaş has a new novel out: Sözcüklerin Anlamı (The Meaning of Words, Can Yayınları). His latest work has garnered significant attention for its use of “interrupted realism,” a narrative technique that deliberately breaks the reader’s immersion in the story to highlight the distinction between objective truth and narrative constructs.

 Akaş explains the draw of this method for him: “Every moment we live is punctured by what we hear, watch, and read in the media feed, and this has become our new ontology—this is how we live now. How can this condition of interruption be translated into the structure of a novel? Sözcüklerin Anlamı offers one possible answer to that question.”

Akaş views this novel as a shift in scale compared to his previous work: : “To put it in musical terms: the Olgunluk Çağı Üçlemesi (Age of Maturity Trilogy, Can Yayınları) 19 (19, Can Yayınları), and Y (Y, Can Yayınları) were my symphonies; Ofelya (Ophelia, Kafka Yayınevi) was a ballet; Zamanın En Kısa Hali (The Shortest State of Time, Can Yayınları) and Sözcüklerin Anlamı are chamber music pieces, each a quartet. “

Akaş remembers his time at RC fondly: “I had excellent teachers like John Heaney who encouraged me to write creatively; English classes taught me how to read a text and find things in it, which, by inference, taught me how to put things into texts. I never studied literature formally, but the time I spent in the RC library taught me 70% of what I know about literature.”

Cem Akaş is also known for writing Bir Geleceğin Anatomisi and Tepedeki Okul, as well as curating the RC’s 160th anniversary exhibition, both of which further deepened Akaş’s connection to RC: “I was enthralled with the history of the school, and the month I spent in New York, researching the RC archive at Columbia University, remains one of my favorite months in life.”

“We are now facing another kind of pandemic: loneliness.”

Through her experience as a consultant and trainer in various sectors, Nil Madi realized that many of the challenges people face at work are rarely spoken about openly, creating tensions, unanswered questions and emotional loads. This realization led her to pen a book: İşin Psikolojisi (Psychology of Work, Hayat Yayınları): “Writing this book was my way of saying ‘you’re not alone and you can navigate work life with awareness, without losing yourself along the way.’”

Madi observes seismic changes in work-related psychology after the pandemic: “Well-being and psychological safety are no longer secondary topics; they have become central.”However, she notes that new pressures have emerged: “Work processes have accelerated dramatically. With constant change and the rapid integration of AI, everything feels faster, but as speed increases, patience decreases, both for employees and managers.”

Madi also identifies a new crisis: “We are now facing another kind of pandemic: loneliness. Despite being more connected digitally, people are feeling increasingly isolated in working life, and this sense of loneliness is becoming a silent but serious issue in organizations.”

Madi has recommendations to RC students on the cusp of entering the work force:
“Invest in getting to know yourselves. Self-awareness is the most critical foundation. Discover your values, your curiosities, your relationship with stress, and be clear about what you do not want. See every role you take on as a chapter and an experience rather than a destination. Focus on what you learn and how you learn it. Learn and really master how to stay calm. And throughout this journey, don’t forget that curiosity and self-compassion will take you much further than pressure ever will.”

Madi credits RC with shaping her analytical framework: “RC gave me the freedom and the confidence to look at the world from different perspectives and create my own synthesis. It helped me recognize not only what I want, but more importantly, what I do not want. All my teachers were deeply influential in their own ways. However, Gökçen Başkan holds a very special place in my heart. The perspective I gained from her class left a lasting mark on me and sparked my interest in art history. I feel deep gratitude and respect for her.”

“My RC foundation helped me develop further respect for my ancestors.”

Nigar Nigar Alemdar’s latest book Üç İstanbullu Osmanlı Ailesi (Three Ottoman Families of Istanbul, Timaş Yayınları) is a feat of social history, chronicling generations of a single family amidst the backdrop of a changing nation.

Alemdar grew up listening to the saga of her illustrious ancestors and inherited a rich array of family albums: “On my father’s side there was Poetess Nigâr Hanım, on my mother’s side there was the journalist, writer, publisher, entrepreneur Ahmet Mithat Efendi. On my paternal grandmother Nebire Nigâr’s side there was the affiliation with Yahya Efendi Dergâhı and the Sultan’s Palace bureurocrats.” 

Family relics fascinated Alemdar from a young age: “I inherited a rich archive from my grandmother and from Nigâr Hanım’s youngest son Keramet Nigâr. Then there was my father’s photo albums and files. Although I’ve always wanted to write about this personal background, due to my busy professional life, I never had the time until the 2019 Covid shutdown. That was when I had the opportunity to write and share my archive with social history buffs.”

Interestingly, though she has always loved writing, publishing books came later in Alemdar’s life: “I can’t really claim to have a writing career. What my alma mater gave me was a sound education in English and liberal arts. This foundation helped me develop further respect for my ancestors, their social environment, and family archive.” 

Indeed, many of Alemdar’s ancestors were themselves fixtures of the RC community: “My grandfather Feridun Nigâr and his younger brother Keramet Nigâr joined the RC faculty in 1908 and both taught there for several decades. My father Fıtrat Nigâr RC 37, my uncles Metin Nigâr RC 36 and Vecdi Füsun Nigâr ex-RC 39, my brother Amil Kunt RC 52 are all alumni. 

This deep-rooted affiliation has kept her close to the school throughout her life: “Teaching English there for five years (1969–1974), serving on the Board of Trustees for nine years (1978–1987), and acting as President of the Alumni Association (1982–1987) are all testaments to my enduring ties with my alma mater.”