French expat to tell Anatolian tales on the Lycian Way


Judith Liberman, a French expat who has lived in Turkey for the last 11 years, has interpreted traditional tales unique to Anatolia, as well as written her own stories, for a project titled "Likya Yolunda Masallar" (Tales along the Lycian Way), initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.To promote the historic Lycian Way stretching between Fethiye to Antalya, which attracts 30,000 hikers each year, the ministry is organizing story-telling performances from May 9-14. Foreign journalists, travel bloggers, and popular Instagram users have been invited to Turkey by the ministry for the project, the Turkish daily Habertürk reported in a recent article. Liberman will accompany the guests to tell stories, and at a village along the way, hold a special session covering Anatolian tales, Turkish hospitality and travel. Liberman wrote five stories for the book, including one about the famous Turkish folk character "Keloğlan."Her short stories will be shared on social media. Liberman told Habertürk that she will be telling stories along their trip, a tradition that people used to do in the past. "I want to introduce Anatolian tales to foreign readers," she said. As a story-teller, teacher, writer and radio presenter, Liberman regularly take stage on story-telling nights and share her art on her own Turkish weekly radio show "Masal Bu Ya" and published a book "Masal Terapisi" (Tale Therapy) last year. She also appeared as an actress in Turkish TV series "Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş" (Once Upon a Time). She has taught academic writing at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, and English at Koç University in Istanbul. She has also become a certified yoga teacher and integrated parts of her interest in storytelling with her practice.