Upon her return to Turkey, she served at the governmental press and publishing agency (Turkish: Basın Yayın Kurumu) and the newspaper "Yeni İstanbul".

[5][6] Celal acquired her love of literature from her cultured mother, and started writing at a young age.

[6] Her literary career can be divided into two parts: During the first half, she wrote mostly romantic novels.

[3][6][7] She was survived by her daughter Zeynep Ergun, who was the chair of the English Language and Literature Department at Istanbul University.

In 1977 Celal was honored for her novel Üç Yirmi Dört Saat with the Turkish Sedat Simavi Literature Award along with Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca.