I’m not especially well travelled, and so when an invitation from a school overseas comes in, I greet it with feelings of high adventure and fear. And so it was with trepidation that I set off to spend World Book Day (and the week around it) in Turkey at the British Embassy School in Ankara (BESA).
As a child who loved Narnia, and any reference to Turkish Delight, how could I resist? Words like Bosphorus and Istanbul/Constantinople are the words of fantasy, magic and fairytales! With my head full of flying carpets, minarets and the stories of Scheherazade, I felt very intrepid!
Although Ankara is a modern, urban, crazy city, as a part of the Middle East it is exotic and different enough to be exciting…
And as it turns out, I had the time of my life.
Ann Kardas, the brilliant and wonderful librarian, took me under her wing and with her husband Oz, took me to see inside a mosque…
We also visited the extraordinary Mausoleum of Ataturk, father of modern Turkey and an inspirational campaigner for human rights. He was one of the great reformers. In the brilliant Spring sunlight, the site felt positively utopian, and clearly a place to ignite patriotism and hope in the heart of the Turkish People. I found it very moving.
In a local bookshop, I was thrilled beyond words to find the Katie books in TURKISH – and the staff were pretty bemused to find ME!
Then the hard work began. The school, BESA, welcomed me with open arms, and I gave talks, art workshops, and even a miniature concert-with-art to all the children from Nursery to Year 8. For the concert I collaborated with a wonderful violinist, Peter Asp, who lives in Ankara, and a guitarist friend. Presented on World Book Day, we of course included an arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade! And with 35 nationalities in the audience, all in literary costumes, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate WBD!
Here’s some of the art created during the concert: Firstly, Scheherazade…
And here is a “Starry Night” painted to a Piazzolla tango called “Cyclical night”…
The hard work was rewarded with the most spectacular exhibition of Katie inspired art you can imagine… courtesy of the amazing art teacher James Bryant.
This is the work of the Nursery!
Each class did something wonderful!
There were even portraits of me!
This Starry Night was made from tapestry threads!
The children also created wonderful art to music in the workshops… This is SADKO by Rimsky-Korsakov:
Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice…
Sibelius’ – Lemminkainen and the Swan of Tuonela…
I was fortunate to share two days with Phil McDermott, the brilliant storyteller (and actor) and we joyfully collaborated twice, him telling stories, me illustrating them as he went along. Great fun! We were treated royally, with plentiful, delicious Turkish food. We were even invited to tea with the Ambassador’s wife.
The grand final was an enormous surprise: As my return home coincided with my birthday, Ann had arranged for pretty much the ultimate birthday/WBD cake, featuring Phil, me and Katie in icing, upon the Turkish flag! I admit I cried… but recovered sufficiently for a photo. Here I am about to eat Katie!
Those of you who are eagle-eyed will spot that I am holding the Turkish edition of a Katie book.
They say travel broadens the mind, and I was humbled by the warmth of the Turks, and my new friends at BESA. I was also humbled to discover how little I knew or understood about Turkish history. A new door opened, more interests ignited. The lovely food, the kindness of the people, the endless, and delicious, Turkish tea, the extraordinary Turkish breakfast, the muezzin’s call to prayer, the food markets, the tumbling streets… so much to hold onto.
The flight home, my suitcase full of Turkish Delight, afforded me spectacular views of the Bosphorus, and left me with a feeling of warmth and friendship, and a wish, one day, to return…
To Everyone at BESA: THANK YOU!
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