Telling Tales

Photo: Jenny Steer

I tell stories from here and there – traditional, adapted and invented – at events and festivals, forest schools and storytelling nights, around the fire or in hushed rooms, into the ears that will listen, to trees and birds and anywhere else I have not thought of yet! I tell for entertainment, for wisdom gleaning, and to connect people with nature and each other. If you require a story to entertain, to awaken, to bring people together, or for a bespoke project or event please contact me! Also see my current projects.

Connecting people and nature

I love that stories can help us remember our connection with the wider family of creatures and the land we live on.

I am currently working on two projects to reroot myself in the land and listen for what the earth might want us to know. One has involved visiting ancient sites and holy wells with musician and friend Ruth Gordon, in which we offer stories and songs to the land and listen for answers. The other project is a so-far-three-years-long pilgrimage along the river near which I grew up. I am walking in the river in wetsuit boots, tresspassing with intent, and listening for the stories the river keeps in the hope of sharing tales to re-enchant people with the natural world.

I have also told stories to connect people with place as storyteller in residence for a new community garden that aims to provide a safe and healing place for people from various marginalised groups to connect with each other and nature through gardening. I have also told stories at the source of the river Windrush to help root people in place and connect with the bioregion of the river.

Creating Stories

 Bespoke stories

Do you have a project you would like to capture in story? Or an event where a story could create a particular atmosphere or context, perhaps linking the present with the cycles of time? I love working with others to capture their stories. Click here for the story I created for the FLOW project on the River Exe, combining the tradition of wassailing, the history of the place, changing human relationships to the natural world, and the essence of the project.