Professional Storyteller
I’m a Professional Storyteller and Author, based in London. I tell traditional folktales, myths and legends to children and adults. My style of storytelling is very participatory where I encourage all ages (from babies upwards) to get involved with bringing the stories to life. Sharing stories and folklore is a wonderful social activity where those listening can imagine each image created by the teller who breathes life into word. I’m an active member of the Society for Storytelling, supporting and promoting the ancient oral tradition of storytelling.
Author
I’m incredibly excited to announce that my latest book is out and available to buy from the usual bookshops: Caribbean Folktales: Stories from the islands and the Windrush Generation. Published by The History Press. in May 2022. It is a collection of stories from a variety of Caribbean island countries and first-hand reminiscences of migration to the UK from these islands during the Windrush years. They are reflections on how they felt at leaving their home, country, and friends; including their aspirations for the new home to be – England the ‘Mother Country’. I’ve these wonderful memories in the first person to capture their voices alongside the Caribbean characters, traditions, and landscape in the folktales I have adapted.
My two children’s books: African & Caribbean, Folktales, Myths and Legends and Bedtimes Stories: Beautiful Black Tales from the Past were both published by Scholastic. The latter was also written and illustrated by other Black creators. If you’d like a signed copy please buy from my local independent bookshop Pickled Pepper Books.
Find out how I chose the stories for these collections. Keep up with all my progress in my blog.
International Storytelling
In 2018, I spent a month in Colombia and Ecuador on a storytelling tour with Dream On Productions. It was a brilliant opportunity for me to experience storytelling that is a deeply valued part of Latin American culture. We visited many International Schools where students took part in my storytelling sessions and teachers took part in my storytelling workshops to teach them storytelling techniques that they can use in their classrooms. It was an amazing cultural and language exchange that allowed me to experience what a powerful social activity oral storytelling is for anyone learning another language. You can read about my time spent in Bogotá and Quito from my blog.
The stories I tell
I have a large repertoire of tales including stories that span the curriculum, cover themes or a particular period in time to suit your event. Here are some examples of the stories I tell. My specialist areas are:
- Afro-Caribbean folktales inspired by my heritage and a childhood filled with written and oral stories passed down from my Grandmother;
- Ancient Greek myths, inspired by my first degree in Classics and a passion for The Odyssey and The Iliad which began at school.
My background..
is in researching, writing and producing programmes for Nickelodeon USA on Nick News and BBC Education with GCSE Bitesize; before spending several years at CBBC as a BBC Children’s interactive and live television Producer working on shows including BAFTA award winning children’s programme SMILE, Dick & Dom in da Bungalow and Blue Peter.
After leaving broadcasting and children’s TV, I led multidisciplinary teams across online, mobile, apps, social media and gaming for world renowned charities ‘Media Trust‘ and ‘Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’.
Where I tell stories
Here’s a partial list of who books me for storytelling:
Theatres & Festivals: Shakespeare’s Globe, Rich Mix, Chicken Shed Theatre, Southbank Centre, Royal Academy of Arts, Greenwich Book Festival, Night of Festivals, Film Africa, Africa Writes
Cultrual and Arts Institutions: The British Museum, The British Library, The Science Museum Tower Bridge, The Florence Nightingale Museum, Museum of London
Grew up….
in South East London, telling tales, writing stories and performing on stage from an early age. My parents are from Guyana and my Grandmother frequently shared with me Guyanese folklore. Amoung others, this included a mixture of African, Dutch, Chinese, Amerindian and Portuguese stories that had been brought to Guyana, the ‘City of Gold’. Tales of ‘Anansi‘, ‘Ole Higue’ and ‘Baccoo’ were brought to life for me with her vivid descriptions and warnings before bedtime “be good child otherwise the jumbee gon ketch you”.
Studied…
- Classical Civilisation & Drama at Surrey University, receiving my combined BA (Hons) after 3 years of ancient Greek theatre, philosophy, literature & art; acting and television production.
- Film & Television Studies at Westminster University (MA) which included in-depth studies of world cinema and women in film.
- Performance storytelling and storytelling for communities (on a continuing basis as part of my training and development).