Why I Created The Attention Span

In 2021, I re-read a piece I had written in 2017, which I had pitched to different mainstream and independent media at the time, to offer a more nuanced analysis of the political situation in my country of birth, Turkey, and how it impacted the many Europeans from Turkey, such as myself. It was a strong analysis rooted in experience and knowledge. No one has published it.

one of my notebooks, sketches, and a print of the article, lying on one of my beloved carpets

I have started to morph my personal website into “The Attention Span” right after that moment, in 2021. Today, in February 2023, I feel the urge to focus on my content even more and share it widely with the people I know who care about the world in which we live, through a bi-monthly newsletter.

I wrote the words below in 2021, and I am re-reading now to see not much has changed.

I am torn by binary and polarised discourses, again.
Again related to people with identities from Turkey, in Western Europe.
Simplified articles, commentary, social media posts, TV shows, radio programmes and more… are flocking to erase any possibility of nuance and humility.
I am urged to write. And I need time and attention to do so. Reflection, analysis and imagination require time and attention.

I am looking at that unpublished piece I wrote. Four years ago. I get angry at its ignored relevance (at both the ignorance and the relevance).

It was a necessary analysis. I was convinced then, I am convinced today. An urgent story told with the time and pace needed to offer tools for understanding. My ambition has always been to try reaching some sort of understanding, if ever possible. It is always an attempt.

Today, I decide to not blame anyone for my unsuccessful attempt at publication: not any media, not any commissioning editor, not myself. I have learned from this experience. It has proved to me once again that I need to publish what I write. My knowledge, sensitivity and expertise span beyond issues related to Turkey and include many topics on the arts and culture, literature, comics, gender and sexuality, diversity and inclusion,… and reaches far beyond borders. I have therefore no doubt that I will get to readers, maybe slowly, but I will. Because I will uphold my own standards, and the promise to keep producing quality work that both our time - mine and yours - is deserving.

I created “The Attention Span” to take the time which is necessary to tell stories that I find urgent to tell; to have the space to reflect, to analyse, to imagine.

I stand behind these words again, and although I have published some excellent pieces in a variety of platforms I read, love and respect, I still find it essential to nurture my own space and create connections with people in my own terms.

I am looking forward to sharing more of my work with you.