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Alexander Christie-Miller
ALEXANDER CHRISTIE-MILLER  is a writer and journalist based in Istanbul. His writing about Turkish politics and culture has been published in Newsweek, the Times, the Atlantic, and other publications. He is a regular contributor to The White Review.


Articles Available Online


Ada Kaleh

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Issue No. 17

Alexander Christie-Miller

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Issue No. 17

When King Carol II of Romania set foot on the tiny Danubian island of Ada Kaleh on 4 May 1931, it was said among...

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October 2015

War is Easy, Peace is Hard

Alexander Christie-Miller

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October 2015

At around midday on 19 July, Koray Türkay boarded a bus in Istanbul and set off for the Syrian...

Myself Mona Ahmed is a photobook and a work of epistolary world-building Published in 2001 by Scalo, it comprises photographs of the life of Mona Ahmed, a woman who lived in the heart of old Delhi, and letters in which Mona tells her life story She addresses the letters to Walter Keller, the publisher, and signs them off ‘With love, Myself, Mona Ahmed’ The images in the book were taken by the artist Dayanita Singh, Mona’s friend, sibling, parent, lover, confidante – Singh struggles to give their relationship a name She met Mona in 1989, while on assignment for The Times UK newspaper She walked down Akbar Milkman’s Lane, in the historic neighbourhood of Turkman Gate, to the house of Sona and Chaman – a famous pair of hijras from old Delhi, known for their high glamour and elegant dances Mona, who was Chaman’s student at the time, opened the door Covered in jewellery and delicate makeup, she posed for Singh’s camera for hours, only to ask for the film roll, because she wasn’t happy with where the images were to be published The exchange of that first roll of film was the start of a decades-long friendship   Mona was raised in middle-class Delhi, separated from family in Pakistan because of Partition As a child, she read the Quran, played with her dolls and dreamt of becoming a performer When Mona was estranged from her family she found a home with the hijra community She danced at weddings, housewarmings and children’s naming ceremonies; she gave blessings, she sang In 1990, she adopted a baby girl, Ayesha, whose birthmother had died during childbirth Ayesha was orphaned, and left in Mona’s care by her grandmother ‘I distributed sweets in the neighbourhood and recited the azaan (Muslim prayer) in her ears,’ Mona writes in a letter to Keller, ‘I wanted to give her all the world’s happiness’ For Ayesha’s first few birthdays, Mona hosted elaborate parties, inviting hijras from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh Singh was the designated photographer, and the images are magnetic, each detail revealing the thoughtful extravagance of Mona’s world: flower bracelets to welcome the guests;

Contributor

August 2014

Alexander Christie-Miller

Contributor

August 2014

ALEXANDER CHRISTIE-MILLER  is a writer and journalist based in Istanbul. His writing about Turkish politics and culture has been...

Forgotten Sea

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Issue No. 11

Alexander Christie-Miller

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Issue No. 11

I. As I stood on the flanks of the Kaçkar Mountains where they slope into the Black Sea near the town of Arhavi, the...
Occupy Gezi: From the Fringes to the Centre, and Back Again

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July 2013

Alexander Christie-Miller

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July 2013

Taksim Square appears at first a wide, featureless and unlovely place. It is a ganglion of roads and bus routes, a destination and a...

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Interview

February 2015

Interview with Eddie Peake

Lily Le Brun

Interview

February 2015

Like many people, I had seen Eddie Peake’s penis long before I met the artist himself. For several years...

poetry

April 2014

MUEUM

SJ Fowler

poetry

April 2014

Since I have worked at the mueum I have published, and I have written 486 pems. I have seen...

fiction

January 2013

Car Wash

Patrick Langley

fiction

January 2013

He is sitting on the back seat of a car, somewhere in France. It’s a bright blue day, absurdly...

 

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