Nancy Knudsen Nancy Knudsen i(A130501 works by)
Born: Established: Queensland, ;
Gender: Female
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1 Tentatively toward Turkey Nancy Knudsen , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Good Reading , June 2016; (p. 50-51)
'Turkey was a country that Australian writer Nancy Knudsen had visited years before, and she thought she had it pegged. But it wasn’t until she lived there for two years that she really came to know and love the city of Istanbul, which she recalls in her memoir, Accidentally Istanbul: Decoding Turkeyfor the enquiring Western traveller .'
1 1 y separately published work icon Accidentally Istanbul : Decoding Turkey for the Enquiring Western Traveller Nancy Knudsen , Dungog : Tamejin , 2016 9780195 2016 single work prose travel

'Nancy Knudsen never meant to go to Istanbul. Maybe she might have included it as part of a holiday along with dazzling European cities such as Venice, Paris or Salzburg. But, Anglican that she was, actually to live in a Muslim country, even though she had lapsed to atheism and agnosticism, seemed alien. To spend time as an ordinary citizen rather than tourist or expat corporate executive, would never have occurred to her. Knudsen's story is vivid, lively and sometimes hilarious, full of insights into things she wished she'd known before she arrived in an all-black apartment above a sportsfield, with not a word of Turkish. She found nothing in guidebooks or histories to help her find a cut of meat she recognised or get the leaky bathroom tap fixed. She had to find her own way into what seemed at first a very strange society. After a time living with her architect husband as he lectured at a local university and she taught English to businessmen and refugee children, she had made many Turkish friends and begun to understand something of a rich, complex, ancient culture. She found she was changed forever-in ways that still astonish her. She introduces curious readers to the Istanbul she and Ted have come to love. Her personal love affair with this great city may well act as a springboard for others.' (Publication summary)

1 4 y separately published work icon Shooting Stars and Flying Fish : Swapping the Boardroom for the Seven Seas Nancy Knudsen , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2011 Z1775630 2011 single work autobiography travel 'When Nancy Knudsen and her architect husband Ted Nobbs decide to escape their high-pressure corporate lives and follow a dream of sailing around the world together, little do they guess where their journey will lead them.

'Nancy and Ted cross all the great oceans of the world and visit dozens of countries. Their adventures are sometimes hilarious, sometimes life-threatening, and lead to the beginning of many life-long friendships.

'As well as recounting the comedy of their cockpit disputes and the sheer breathtaking beauty of their five-year adventure, Shooting Stars and Flying Fish shows how the couple's experiences both humble them and irrevocably change their attitudes, ethics and outlook on life, with neither returning to the corporate world on their return to Australia. This book is a beautifully written, inspirational memoir that shows the rewards of taking a risk to follow one's dreams.' (From the publisher's website.)
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