Essay / CityThis issue's lead story
Why does the city slow down from a ferry?
The twenty minutes between Eminönü and Kadıköy make a good ruler for the city's pace. Notes kept on the same crossing for a year.
Defne Arslan[14 Oct 2026] · 18 min read
Stories
This week in Seyrek
Filter by topic or by the time you have. Add what you like to your list; your reading plan is built from it.
Time
Kerem Aydos[13 Oct 2026]
The patient calendar of sourdough
A dough's sixteen-hour journey in a neighbourhood bakery: weighing, resting, shaping and the oven.
Food · 12 min
Ece Tunalı[12 Oct 2026]
The flaw in a hand-shaped cup
On making the same cup thirty times and learning that no two are alike.
Craft · 7 min
Selim Oktar[11 Oct 2026]
Margin notes in a family album
Dates and names pencilled on the backs of photos, and a street that can never quite be found.
Memory · 22 min
Nehir Sayın[10 Oct 2026]
A herbarium from the balcony
A summer spent drying and naming four plants that grow wild in the city.
Nature · 9 min
Mert Yalçıner[9 Oct 2026]
The street with the red facade
A narrow street's neighbourhood memory, told through the stories of a building caretaker.
City · 6 min
Leyla Demirkan[8 Oct 2026]
A slope beneath the city walls
Following a man down the same slope each evening: how an old wall lives with its neighbours today.
Memory · 15 min
Baran Yener[7 Oct 2026]
Three hours at the wheel
The first lesson at the potter's wheel: nothing begins until the clay is centred.
Craft · 11 min
Zeynep Ilgaz[6 Oct 2026]
Why does a croissant take two days?
Butter and dough folded into twenty-seven layers: a short note from a pastry kitchen.
Food · 4 min
Reading plan
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Pick your time; stories on your list come first, and we fill the minutes left with the newest stories that fit.
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30-minute read30 / 30 min
- 0-18 min18 minWhy does the city slow down from a ferry?Defne Arslan · City · Our pick
- 18-30 min12 minThe patient calendar of sourdoughKerem Aydos · Food · Our pick
Total 30 minYour time is exactly full
seyrekNo. 14 · Oct 2026
Shore
Ferry notes · Memory of a slope · Balcony herbarium · Sourdough calendar
Print issue
Issue 14: Shore
Four times a year, 168 pages. Longer versions of the stories on the site, photo essays and two short stories found only in print. Subscribers read the full digital archive.
Contents
- Why does the city slow down from a ferry? Defne Arslanp. 8
- A slope beneath the city walls Leyla Demirkanp. 34
- A herbarium from the balcony Nehir Sayınp. 71
- The patient calendar of sourdough Kerem Aydosp. 112
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Write for Seyrek
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Essays, interviews and photo essays rooted in first-hand observation. City, food, craft, nature or memory; a narrow subject, a wide view.
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Short pieces 800-1,600 words, essays 1,800-3,000, long features up to 4,000. Photos at least 3,000 pixels wide.
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