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Judy Light Ayyildiz

Judy has a master’s degree from the Hollins University Creative Writing program,. She was a founder of the Blue Ridge Writers Conference and an editor of Artemis: Artists and Writers from the Blue Ridge for 13 years. For more than 20 years, she has taught creative writing (fiction, poetry, journal, non-fiction) to  people from age 6 to 72. Her co-written texts:  Creative Writing Across the Curriculum, and Easy Ideas for Busy Teachers, Frank Schaffer Publishers, and The Writers Express, T. S. Denison, grew out of teaching. Smuggled Seeds won the Gusto Press “Poet Discovery Prize.” Poetry, Mud River, Lintel Press, was critically-acclaimed by William Packard, Fred Chappell and Amanda Cockrell. She has honors, prizes and publications in various genre' in literary publications since 1960. Nothing But Time, Xlibris, a memoir of spiritual triumph in time of trauma and the account of a cross-cultural life was on a required reading list at the University of Virginia, nominated by the Virginia TECH bookstore as a finalist for the Virginia College Stores Association Annual Book Award and a Library of Virginia Outstanding Book Award nominee. Judy’s first children’s book includes watercolor illustrations by her husband. Some of My Ancestors are Ottomans and Turks was published by Greenhouse Bookstore, Istanbul in 2004. The Rebecca Pratt Literary Group is handing Judy’s first novel, Wife of the Revolution.   Built on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey in 1923 mirrored a West that was rather indifferent to it. Yet, in an incredibly short period of time under M. K. Ataturk, Turkey managed to transform its war-ravaged nation into a progressive republic built on Western ideals.  Through the moving saga of the woman Adalet, the novel dramatizes this country’s evolution, creating a spectrum of Turkey unique for the Western reader. A privileged granddaughter of an agha in Ottoman Thrace, Adalet, at age ten, takes flight from the devastating Balkan Wars. At fifteen—for romantic love and adventure—she defies family to elope with the blacksmith's son. Mystically-inclined Adalet, who dreams of being a writer living in Paris, finds herself on the path of national revolution. Adalet's journey includes World War One, the Allied Occupation, and The Great Offensive—amidst heroes, heroines, romantic adventures and births. Wife of a government official, a teacher hating prejudice and needless war, and a mother of seven children, Adalet is an active part of Turkey's cultural revolution and the ongoing contest for women's rights. Her tumultuous married life stumbles through Turkey's painful metamorphosis from the crumbling empire to the new republic. Laced with vivid scenes and particular details of the exotic culture, Adalet's epic-riddled life winds back and forth through Anatolia, Istanbul, and Thrace. Although her story includes children's deaths, love's betrayal, divorce and destitution, Adalet's great spirit parallels her nation's struggle. Ultimately, she finds wholeness and security within herself.

Ms. Ayyildiz is represented by the Rebecca Pratt Literary Group. Publishers, producers or their representatives interested in any of Ms. Ayyildiz's properties or available rights are invited to contact Rebecca S. Pratt, Agent of Record.