Bucak, Ayse Papatya

Margherita Luti, the daughter of a hard-working but nai've baker, Francesco Luti,
discovers her potential in La Panetteria da Francesco as she hones her craft of breadmaking,
while also adding cakes and other dolces to her repertoire. Her simple life takes
great turns as Margherita learns about new passions of hers: dolce, art, and love. After
colliding with Raphael Sanzio, one of Rome's most prominent painters, she disguises
herself as one of the elite and begins to live a life unknown and drastically contrary to the
lifestyle she had always had. Set in the backdrop of Renaissance Italy, Rita soon opens
the gates to her own inhibited desires as wells as confronting the expectations of her class
and her role as a woman. Margherita and Raphael will have to decide whether or not their
love for each other is greater than the social challenges they must face.

Prodigal Sons is a novella that examines the strained relationship of two
brothers, Ben and Wade. Touching upon the ideas of reconciliation and
forgiveness, it is a different take on the tale of the same name (The Prodigal Son)
from the Bible. The novella is titled Prodigal Sons, "sons" being pluralized here
in order to convey a unique vision of this parable. This story is set in South
Florida horse country, paying particular attention to Homestead, a place that has
meaning for the brothers' pasts, presents, and futures.

Only The Body Remembers is a collection of poems, lyric essays, and short stories
that explore several subjects, including love (both romantic and familial), loss, grief,
sexuality, identity, and obsession. The primary thematic thread that binds this collection
together is somatic memory -- the way the body records experiences, and the strong
emotional charge these recorded experiences carry.

My family has always been a source of inspiration to me. In the following
sections, I attempt to capture the unique experience of growing up as one of them: how
they’ve shaped me as I have grown, and the marks we’ve left on one another.

“Homonorm” is a collection of short stories that explores the gay male experience
and challenges gender expectations. Through an exploration of form and content, each
story serves to illuminate different issues in the gay community and in society. Where
one story explores the issue of youth obsession with magical realism, the other tells the
story of a gay artist’s sexual awakening and struggle with HIV and AIDS through a series
of still-life photographs. This eclectic collection serves to break the stereotype of gay
fiction and undo the gender norms for men through fantastical situations and a-typical
forms of fiction to underscore the idea that life and community are varied and so too
should be the representations of these two groups.

Familial Acquaintances is a collection of short stories with a focus on the family
relationship. Some of the stories are meant to represent fictionalized versions of the
author’s family members, while others are purely fiction.
The author’s interest in the relationship between fiction and nonfiction is one that
informs much of her work. The use of fictionalized non-fiction, or reality-infused fiction,
as the author alternatively refers to it, is used as a vehicle to examine family dynamics,
and explore the long-lasting effects of our early family relationships and how they form
our personalities and affect our relationships as adults.

This novella is a realist fiction project that works to show the relationship of two
young girls, Mary and Ginny. Mary is the main character and she delivers the narrative in
first person, present tense, though in a slipstream, retrospective style. The narrative
follows the two girls’ relationships to their bodies and each other as they move into
adulthood. Mary is enthralled by Ginny and they each find comfort in the other’s fatness.
Ginny’s eating disorder begins to progress as Mary’s declines, and their friendship
deteriorates as a result.

The Piglasio children suffered great hardship after the loss of their father and the disappearance of their eldest sister. Raised by a single mother in the ruin of childhoods already long gone, Frances and Michael wrestle with young adulthood, their faith and each other. One runs hundreds of miles away to seek adventure and friendship in Maryland. While the other runs only a mile, joining the efforts of a good-hearted young man who takes in the homeless.

The eleven short stories in this collection can be described as autobiographical fiction, combining true instances from the author’s life with fictional characters and events. The stories explore the themes of grief and loss, coming of age, and the importance of preserving the natural world.

Kate Zeller is nearly thirteen, with hair like a rat’s nest and the temperament of a dog chained up against its will: moody and likely to bite you. She lives in the small town of Brookford with her twenty-two year old brother Teddy and her grandfather, Tony, an acclaimed graphic novelist. As summer turns to autumn, two things barrel uninvited into Kate’s life: one is Raleigh, a strange new girl with a head full of Shakespeare and a secret knowledge of ghosts. The other is the Alzheimer’s that sneaks itself into her
grandfather’s head and begins to steal it away, piece by piece. The history and tragedy of the Zeller family begins to unwind as reality blurs with fantasy, creator with creations, all being watched by a man who lives deep in the forest that connects Kate’s house to Raleigh’s. A man with eyes that tick.