What a hugely eccentric (in a good sort of way) a nation Britain is.
A man named Taffy Thomas, from the Lake District county of Cumbria, has been named the country's first storytelling laureate.
Taffy, 60, will start his two-year tenure in January and will travel the length and breadth of the country telling stories to adults and children.
He will take with him the seven gifts of the laureate: a 1kg bag of dried beans, a compass, a packet of Love Hearts sweets, a clear glass bottle, a tall white candle, a silver, lucky charm bracelet and a whistle.
Mr Thomas, from Grasmere in the Lake District, is a literature and drama teacher who was awarded an MBE for services to storytelling and charity in 2001 turned to storytelling in his mid 30s as a form of speech therapy after a major stroke, and founded the folk theatre company The Magic Lantern.
He has a repertoire of 300 stories, tales and elaborate lies.
Britain's first storytelling laureate named as Cumbrian Taffy Thomas
Aislinn Laing
01 Nov 2009
The Telegraph
Britain is set to enjoy its first storytelling laureate in the form of eccentrically-clad Cumbrian Taffy Thomas.
The new storytelling laureate, Taffy Thomas, with two schoolchildren
Mr Thomas, 60, a literature and drama teacher who was awarded an MBE for services to storytelling and charity in 2001, has a repertoire of 300 stories, tales and elaborate lies collected mainly from traditional oral sources.
During his two-year tenure starting in January next year, the self-declared "grand old man of stories" will travel the length and breadth of the UK entertaining children and adults.
He will take with him the seven gifts of the laureate: a 1kg bag of dried beans, a compass, a packet of Love Hearts sweets, a clear glass bottle, a tall white candle, a silver, lucky charm bracelet and a whistle
Mr Thomas, from Grasmere in the Lake District, turned to storytelling in his mid 30s as a form of speech therapy after a major stroke, and founded the folk theatre company The Magic Lantern.
He believes that his stories bond all the elements of society and age groups which modern marketing has separated into target groups.
"When sharing a story together, we're all just people," he told The Independent.
"Something that is both quite simple and quite profound happens in a storytelling time."
He believes his success lies in engaging with his audience to form a captivating
bond.
"The essential components are a storyteller, a listener and a good tale," he said.
"The teller and the listener bring something of their own life experience to the moment. Together they're both making the same journey. A warm relationship grows between the two through that storytelling moment. A good story well told has the potential to draw together a very disparate group of people."
Mr Thomas would like to see more people taking up the ancient art, and hopes that his tour of duty might encourage them.
"If someone can tell a story they can also speak at a job interview... or even in a court of law. The art of storytelling empowers a person," he said.
The new laureate is backed by a group of artists and writers, including the poet Brian Patten, the former children's laureate Michael Rosen and the artist Adrian Johnson.
The endeavour will be launched at the British Library in London in January as part of National Storytelling Week.
"Stories inspire and encourage us at critical moments in our lives, and with the brilliant success of the poet laureate and other regional projects the time seemed right to honour the oral tradition of storytelling and those that tell them," Mr Johnson said.
"I’m so pleased for Taffy," Mr Rosen added. "Anything that helps support the oral tradition of storytelling gets my vote."
telegraph.co.uk
A man named Taffy Thomas, from the Lake District county of Cumbria, has been named the country's first storytelling laureate.
Taffy, 60, will start his two-year tenure in January and will travel the length and breadth of the country telling stories to adults and children.
He will take with him the seven gifts of the laureate: a 1kg bag of dried beans, a compass, a packet of Love Hearts sweets, a clear glass bottle, a tall white candle, a silver, lucky charm bracelet and a whistle.
Mr Thomas, from Grasmere in the Lake District, is a literature and drama teacher who was awarded an MBE for services to storytelling and charity in 2001 turned to storytelling in his mid 30s as a form of speech therapy after a major stroke, and founded the folk theatre company The Magic Lantern.
He has a repertoire of 300 stories, tales and elaborate lies.
Britain's first storytelling laureate named as Cumbrian Taffy Thomas
Aislinn Laing
01 Nov 2009
The Telegraph
Britain is set to enjoy its first storytelling laureate in the form of eccentrically-clad Cumbrian Taffy Thomas.
The new storytelling laureate, Taffy Thomas, with two schoolchildren
Mr Thomas, 60, a literature and drama teacher who was awarded an MBE for services to storytelling and charity in 2001, has a repertoire of 300 stories, tales and elaborate lies collected mainly from traditional oral sources.
During his two-year tenure starting in January next year, the self-declared "grand old man of stories" will travel the length and breadth of the UK entertaining children and adults.
He will take with him the seven gifts of the laureate: a 1kg bag of dried beans, a compass, a packet of Love Hearts sweets, a clear glass bottle, a tall white candle, a silver, lucky charm bracelet and a whistle
Mr Thomas, from Grasmere in the Lake District, turned to storytelling in his mid 30s as a form of speech therapy after a major stroke, and founded the folk theatre company The Magic Lantern.
He believes that his stories bond all the elements of society and age groups which modern marketing has separated into target groups.
"When sharing a story together, we're all just people," he told The Independent.
"Something that is both quite simple and quite profound happens in a storytelling time."
He believes his success lies in engaging with his audience to form a captivating
bond.
"The essential components are a storyteller, a listener and a good tale," he said.
"The teller and the listener bring something of their own life experience to the moment. Together they're both making the same journey. A warm relationship grows between the two through that storytelling moment. A good story well told has the potential to draw together a very disparate group of people."
Mr Thomas would like to see more people taking up the ancient art, and hopes that his tour of duty might encourage them.
"If someone can tell a story they can also speak at a job interview... or even in a court of law. The art of storytelling empowers a person," he said.
The new laureate is backed by a group of artists and writers, including the poet Brian Patten, the former children's laureate Michael Rosen and the artist Adrian Johnson.
The endeavour will be launched at the British Library in London in January as part of National Storytelling Week.
"Stories inspire and encourage us at critical moments in our lives, and with the brilliant success of the poet laureate and other regional projects the time seemed right to honour the oral tradition of storytelling and those that tell them," Mr Johnson said.
"I’m so pleased for Taffy," Mr Rosen added. "Anything that helps support the oral tradition of storytelling gets my vote."
telegraph.co.uk