What makes a day? Is it the routine of brewing morning coffee or walking through the neighborhood? Is it more meaningful if it's spent in the company of others? And if we do find ourselves alone, what are we able to see in our solitude?

Ayşegül Savaş's affinity for the details brings these questions to the forefront. She has a talent for transforming mundane moments into compelling prose that lingers long after a story ends. Her latest books—The Anthropologists, a slim novel following a young couple's search for an apartment, and The Wilderness, her debut work of nonfiction chronicling her first 40 days after giving birth—are no exception. They are elegant studies of time and place—of growing up and growing older, kinship and family, home and language, and life's small pains and pleasures. And while Ayşegül considers many of her books to be "quiet stories," it's in the silence that readers hear the heartbeat of her sentences—each a compelling reminder of what makes life worth living.

In this interview, Ayşegül shared more about the connection between mothering and writing, thoughts on creative lineage and family, and what it means to be in the present moment—in art and life. This episode also opens with a story by Cara Blue Adams.

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Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/aysegul-savas 

Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/

Purchase The Anthropologists: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-anthropologists-aysegul-savas/20328495?ean=9781639733064 

Purchase The Wilderness: https://www.transitbooks.org/books/thewilderness 

Purchase You Never Get It Back: https://bookshop.org/p/books/you-never-get-it-back-cara-blue-adams/16910017?ean=9781609388133 

Purchase Slowing: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759 

Follow Ayşegül: https://www.instagram.com/__aysegulsavas__/ 

Follow Cara: https://www.instagram.com/carablueadams/ 

Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann