Conversations With Storytellers

Welcome to part two of my conversation with British storyteller, Amy Douglas. If you haven’t listened to part one, I would recommend you do. It will introduce you to Amy, and how she ended up here. Amy lives in Shropshire, England, and has been telling stories since she was a wee lass. In this, part two, of my conversation with Amy, we talk about Duncan Williamson, the Norse myths, in particular, Freya, and the Northern Lights. We start off with how Amy discovered she came from a background of travelers and go on to talk about how there are parts of the land which have been tamed and there’s the wild landscapes too, and how they influence our work. Amy Douglas was introduced to storytelling at a very young age. She was telling stories to strangers by the time she was 14, and after college and a career in colour polymer moved to her true passion of storytelling. Amy was part of the initial team who started Festival at the Edge in Shropshire, has worked in radio, and met some incredible people who she has worked with and mentored under. Amy’s website is: https://amydouglas.com/ And her own podcast called, Taking the Tradition On can be found here: https://takingthetraditionon.libsyn.com/ and here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpcvx1G7TUAbeZU80cJJX8g where there are a few more episodes!

Amy Douglas and I met on-line during the COVID pandemic, and then I went to visit her on a recent trip to the UK.  We got on really well, and I felt that people out there, really need to hear her voice and know more about her.  Amy Douglas was introduced to storytelling at a very young age. She was telling stories to strangers by the time she was 14, and after college and a career in colour polymer moved to her true passion of storytelling. Amy was part of the initial team who started Festival at the Edge in Shropshire, has worked in radio, and met some incredible people who she has worked with and mentored under. Amy did not realise that her family has deep roots in the traveler tradition and discovered this after working with traveler storyteller Duncan Williamson. We get into Amy’s work in the traveler traditions and mythic work in part two. Amy’s website is: https://amydouglas.com/ And her own podcast called, Taking the Tradition On can be found here: https://takingthetraditionon.libsyn.com/ and here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpcvx1G7TUAbeZU80cJJX8g where there are a few more episodes!  

This Conversation is with Mary Hamilton who is a storytelling veteran of 42 years at this point (2025). She has written a book on Kentucky folk tales, through a fellowship, and has won a number of awards, including the Kentucky School Media Association for her work in schools. Mary is not just a storyteller but also a producer. We talk about hard stories, and braiding stories and self-reflection. This conversation talks about Mary’s work, other storytellers, mentors, practice, and process. Right now, Mary is “getting stories out of [her] mouth” as she prepares for the Cave Run Festival and Timpanogos where she and I are two of the many storytellers who will be performing in Lehi, Utah. Mary’s website: https://maryhamilton.info/ And some folks and events which Mary mentions in this conversation. Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, 4th - 6th September, 2025: https://timpfest.org/ Cave Run, 26th - 27th Sept, 2025: https://www.caverunstoryfest.org/ Liz Lerman’s website (critical response): https://lizlerman.com Doug Lipman’s website: https://storydynamics.com/ Laura Simms’ website: https://www.laurasimms.com/ Indivisible: https://indivisible.org/ 50501: https://www.fiftyfifty.one/ I hope you enjoy this episode!

It's smoking hot today, Tuesday 24th. For June we are breaking all records so far. It's 33 degrees C, 92 degrees F. Although the humidity started high at 77%, it has dropped down to 50 % for which the pets and myself are thankful. Moe and I did not get to do a big walk because of this, however, we did find a pool which kept us cool, at least for a while! This old folktale "Three Heads in the Well" can be found in Joseph Jacobs', English Fairy Tales, 1898 (from Halliwell chapbook - page 158). Have you ever found anything unusual in a well or pool? Stay safe out there! Simon

Hello friends! Here we are with our latest episode of Conversations with Storytellers. I think/hope you will like this episode, and if you are traveling this weekend, it will keep you, hopefully, entertained for a little more than an hour. And if you are not traveling, same thing applies! Margaret Read MacDonald - what isn't there to say about her - storyteller, writer, librarian, inspiration, source of so many stories and super lady! She has traveled broadly around the world gathering and listening to stories from other tellers and as a result has over 67 published books, and over 13 awards for her extensive work. Margaret has an MA in Library Science, another in Education, a PhD in folklore and is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. She is also the mother of two storytellers! For some strange and annoying reason my mic was crackling, so I apologise for that. Please welcome, Margaret Read MacDonald! www.margaretreadmacdonald.com/

Csenge (pronounced Chen-gah) Zalka, is one of our younger storytellers, but also one of those whose work goes deep. Csenge is from Hungry and she works with primary source, archival material to create the work she presents. Csenge is the first International Hungarian storyteller, she spent a year in the USA studying storytelling, had published her book at age 27, created an international festival in Budapest, has an MA in archaeology, and has a ton of other books since published. Oh, and she tells wonderful stories. Csenge and I first met when I went to the NSN Storytelling Conference back in, I don't know when. I saw her and American storyteller Rachel Ann Harding telling a set of tales together and was intrigued.  I followed her blog for a long time – the Multi-colored Diary, and every once in a while, we would ping each other. And I really wanted to get her feelings on the subject of folk and fairy tales, myths and legends and hear what it is like being an international storyteller in Hungry. The Multicolored Diary: https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/ Csenge’s website: https://www.zalkacsenge.hu/storyteller-english/ I hope you enjoy the episode! Simon

Ben Haggerty is one of the premier storytellers from the UK, one of the founders of the London based Crick Crack Club. He has run and created festivals and was a major force in helping the UK storytelling renaissance. He has mentored many tellers, and even written a graphic novel. He brought Duncan Williamson, Scottish traveller storyteller, to English audiences, amongst others. I don’t want to spoil what we get into, but we went deep into the craft. Sadly we didn't get to talk about projects such as his graphic novels, but he left us with a lot to think about. I hope you enjoy this episode. Ben can be found at: https://benhaggarty.com/

Hi friends, I am moving my other podcast, this podcast, Lindyline, a story podcast to this channel. A sort of two for one. It began as a very long story then turned into short episodes of stories and poems for children, and adults who wanted to unwind (so I have been told)! This episode is a very gently changed (for the telling) Timothy Tabbycat a story first published in 1947, written under the pen name of CAM. The author's full name is Barbara Mary Campbell. It's about a cat named Timothy and his human friend Willy Straw and how they are invited to help rescue a hare who lives in the moon. This is a book my mum had as a kid and one she would read to my brother and me, and it is still one of my favourites. I think a lot of it has to do with all the hidden bits, the rich colours, the 'wonderfilled' artwork! And of course the dragon. If you want to see the pictures from the book, Tarrington Books scanned all the pages, so you can see what I saw growing up. I hope you love the illustrations and story as much as I do. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tarringtonbooks/8169356047/in/photostream/ The whole book is there. All the best, and until next time... Peace, Simon

Dan Yashinsky is a self-proclaimed ex-hippy, originally from California, he is young at heart and has been telling stories for as long as he can remember. His interest was telling stories for adults and because if you don’t have a venue for telling stories, one needs to make one. Dan created several venues for telling. He has written and edited books, won countless awards and is a very well-respected and popular storyteller throughout the world. Unfortunately, it turned out we didn’t have long to talk, however, we covered a lot in the short amount of time we had. Dan mentions Bob Barton, Joan Bodger and Alice Kane amongst others, and there was a book we could not remember the title of. Written by Ms. Bodger it is called: “How the Heather Looks” and talks about her travels in the UK visiting sights where British children’s literature took place. We talk about developing the language of stories, words, and how we should “never give the audience an ace when a 2 will do…” (so the audience can remain in the story themselves). We also asked, what are we doing as emerging storytellers in this still beginning, in Dan's words, renaissance of storytelling? Reach out to Dan at his website: https://tellery.com/dan-yashinsky/ And the video he talks about regarding his stories and his partner’s dance: https://www.youtube.com/@AnnemarieCabri The book he recommends by Alice Kane: https://broadviewpress.com/product/the-dreamer-awakes/#tab-description If you are interested in telling in Toronto and maybe seeing Dan- https://1001fridays.org/wordpress/ And lastly, but not least (ly!) I hope you enjoy this episode of Conversations with Storytellers. Peace, Simon

Shonaleigh comes from an old Jewish tradition.  Hailing from Britain, she is a Drut'syla (pronounced Dreet-zella). who was taught around 3,000 stories by her Bubbe, Eldith Marks. These stories are told traditionally in cycles. Some stories are short, but some are incredibly long. They make the Odyssey look like a Saturday morning cartoon. Shonaleigh was a delight to chat with, and I hope you enjoy this episode of "Conversations with Storytellers." You can find more of her work including videos and audio recordings at https://shonaleigh.uk/ If you want to join Twilight Tales with Shonaleigh, you can join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/twilighttales/ And my work is, as always, at Diamondscree.com Peace, Simon