Turkish-born, Paris-based writer Ayşegül Savaş’s third novel opens with a young, ex-pat couple who are apartment hunting. Both foreigners in the city they live in and unburdened from the usual familial obligations, their days are marked by small pleasures: shopping at a local flea market, drinking coffee together before work, and taking long walks in the park. Like so much of Ayşegül’s writing, The Anthropologists is interested not just in foreignness, but what it means to establish traditions and rituals when you are starting anew. This week, Michael chats with Ayşegül about this latest novel and why she is trying to make foreignness the status quo.

 

Reading list:

Walking on the Ceiling, Ayşegül Savaş, 2019

White on White, Ayşegül Savaş, 2021

The Anthropologists, Ayşegül Savaş, 2024

The Wilderness, Ayşegül Savaş 2024

 

The Confidence Woman, Sophie Quick, 2025

 

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

 

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Guest: Ayşegül Savaş

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