Somehow managing to switch from a teaching degree to a drama degree many years ago I entered the world of story through working in community theatre performing storytelling shows in schools and mostly community venues. At Beyond the Border storytelling festival in the early 90s, camping near the open fire which luckily for us, was tended to by Scottish Traveller storyteller Duncan Williamson. Hearing His stories and storytelling had a huge effect on me. There was something about them. Then the inauguration for The Society for Storytelling in Birmingham – accompanied by bag pipes and meaningful ceremony, with talks and stories from Alan Garner and Eileen Caldwell and so many inspiring storytellers encouraged a few of us to set up a storytelling club in the back room of an Irish pub in Digbeth, Birmingham.

Partly pulled by the story, partly by our children yet to be born, we moved to Scotland in the early 90`s. Getting to know Scotland by touring with the Storytelling shows I then worked at Elgin Museum where we were fortunate enough to get Scottish Traveller Stanley Robertson to come to tell stories as part of his work with The Elphinstone Institute.

I have a huge debt to the many varied and talented storytellers working in the world right now. Also to those that have gone before. Many thanks to the Scottish Storytelling Centre for their support. Funding from The Scottish Storytelling Centre and the Scottish Book Trust have brought my focus onto local stories and how to bring then alive to a young audience. There are many more yet to be uncovered.