Ange Takats at the Festival

Ange Takats recalls her second session at the Sydney Jewish Writers’ Festival which was about travel writing and being a Stranger in a strange land.

"The session started well. I sat in my pretty blouse. I told my stories. The audience laughed. I felt their love. Then the moderator of the panel asked the gentleman author who his literary heroes were in terms of travel writing. The gentleman mentioned a bunch of authors I’d never heard of. The audience nodded and smiled and proclaimed words of acceptance like “Yes, I love that author too!” and “Oh yes, yes, he’s such a good writer!”

The host then turned to me: “And how about you, Ange?” - her answer caused a bit of a stir- http://angetakats.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/banishment-blouses-buddhist-monks.html  

After travelling to Bangkok and writing The Buffalo Funeral: " I learnt to enjoy the feeling of floating above life. Being an outsider allowed me to witness beautiful moments that would have gone unnoticed had I been buried in conversation. I developed the ability to ‘feel’ my way through the world – to figure out what was going on between people without needing to comprehend their language. I learnt more about human beings in my two years of existing on the edge of Thai culture, than I ever learnt within the heart of my own"

http://www.angetakats.com.au/shop.html

Read more about Ange finding a sense of her self and how she 'rubbed the head of a Buddhist monk'
http://angetakats.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/banishment-blouses-buddhist-monks.html

Photo by Elana Bowman

Oh the places You'll Go!

"Who would have thought the ‘seminal event’ in my Jewish life would take place over a plate of papaya salad and sticky rice on a stinky street in South East Asia?

I’d grown up on Sydney’s northern beaches and felt completely disconnected from my European heritage. I remember watching my first episode of Seinfeld and telling my best friend that I thought I might be Jewish … she laughed and told me that unless I went to the synagogue, I wasn’t Jewish. But years later, when I was working as a foreign correspondent in Bangkok, I was introduced to an Israeli by the name of Guy Sharett. I can honestly say that the minute he spoke I felt as if I’d met my long-lost brother. He was hilarious and honest and understood me better than many of my friends back home. I felt like I’d found one of my ‘tribe’."

Read Ange's story on what it means to be Jewish: http://angetakats.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/jutta-and-me.html

Ange Takats - http://www.encounters.edu.au/SJWF/Presenters/Ange-Takats

"This weekend I’ll be participating at the Sydney Jewish Writers’ Festival. One of the sessions I’ll be taking part in is called ‘Stranger in a new land’. It has caused me to reflect on my Jewish heritage … and think about my grandmother who died eight years ago. I wouldn’t be taking part in the festival if it weren’t for Jutta and her brave journey to a far away land ... and her passion for travel which inspired me to leave my homeland for Thailand ... where I met an Israeli called Guy Sharett who declared one humid Bangkok day ... “Darling, you are Jewish!”

 

Ange will also be sharing her adventures during Oh the places you'll go

along with Tony Kevin. They travelled through Spain, Portugal and Thailand and will be talking about the astonishing people and places they encountered.

 

This session will include a tribute to Carolyn Shine, author of Single White Female in Hanoi, who was supposed to be part of the SJWF program but tragically passed away earlier this year.

For the full program - http://www.encounters.edu.au/SJWF/Program/Program

Opening Night / Saturday 25 August takes place at the Law Theatre in the Law Building at the University of NSW. 

The program on Sunday 26th, Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th August takes place at the Eric Caspary Learning Centre, Shalom College, at the University of NSW.

For more information, see Venue.

Click for a downloadable version of the program.

N.B. Program is subject to change.