Hello out there

Hey, those Young Tongues aren't wagging much at the moment, are they?  What news from past winners of Young Storyteller of the Year?  Are you all flourishing? 

The Arts Foundation recently put up a £10,000 award for an innovative and creative rising star in the tiny storytelling universe.  Four storytellers were short listed and had to go head-to-head at London's Barbican Theatre.  But the long list, of less than 15 storytellers chosen by their peers, included two names from past Young Storyteller of the Year awards, the performance storytelling group Annamation, and the storyteller Jo Blake.  Congratulations to them all!

The Young Storyteller of the Year Award next takes place on 7th March 2009.  It could, as the stylish badges proclaim, be YOU! See our great new web site at www.ysoy.org.uk.  But don't forget to leave a posting here too.  There's plenty of room in Cyberspace ........

Fiona

Tim blogs...

Dear Friends,

Too long has past since last I posted here! Things have been busy, and that is healthy. I'm co-ordinating the monthly story-round meet in Sheffield's Old Queen's Head at the moment, organising the mailing lists and such. If you're in the city or surround area, and would like to hear what we've got going on, then let me know and I'll be sure you get the details!

I put on a night last week, at the Fat Cat on Kelham Island. It's a wonderful pub attached to the brewery in amongst the former steel works. The surrounds are a confusion; tangled vines burst from long abandoned factories whilst swish new apartment blocks grow just as vigorously alongside. What better place to put on an evening of Urban Fairytales? Ancient stories in modern settings. We filled the room
until every chair, every patch of floor, and then every armpit had a listener therein. It was incredibly positive, the evening served as a sort of litmus test for me on whether or not we could put such events on in Sheffield. A hat was passed and it came back heavy. If we can do that once every couple of months then we can think about guests, and so on and so forth, the future is ours to shape.

It was also a good learning activity. More and more of late I've realised how eager people are to laugh. That if something is funny now and again, then that carries a lot of the emotional intensity. It's an idea I'm going to take to extremes in my next big project:

In October, I'm looking to put on a night of classic absurd pieces, featuring Kafka's Metamorphosis and Gogol's The Nose. I will be joined onstage by a large, cuddly woodlouse. It will be hilarious, sad, and folly of the purest kind.

'til then
Tim

New website for Young Storyteller of the Year

The Young Storyteller of the Year will soon have a brand new website, and there's already a holding page.

Who should get involved?
Individuals, schools and colleges, youth groups and youth theatre, story clubs and festivals, folk clubs and festivals. Anyone dealing with young people who could be the storytellers of the future.

Comments on this blog, or email Fiona

COMING SOON!

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

YOUNG STORYTELLER OF THE YEAR 2009

will take place in Birmingham on SATURDAY 7th MARCH

Contact us on fiona@tradartsteam.co.uk or 01490 430551 to join the mailing list

Inspiration from unexpected places

Ira Glass isn't talking about storytelling, but what he says is painfully true, especially when I look at my own recorded work.

Ira talks about creative work.

For me there is an enormously important thing happening in terms of how the world connects, and how creative people can be, and it's really all very wonderfully described here:

by Clay Shirky.

Inspiration comes from strange places, I think the important things are to share it and relish in it.

Mystery in the mundane

The Alden Biesen festival in Belgium was brilliant. Weird, but brilliant.

We were sitting at the back of a theatre, waiting for Daniel Morden to come onstage and tell the Oddyssey, when Rachel leant over to me.

"We're being paid for this." She said.

And I suppose technically we were being paid to tell stories to the coachloads of Belgian teenagers, and were just watching other shows between our gigs. But in that moment it was true, and more than that, it was a dream made real.

On which subject, next Thursday is the first gig of my tour with Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, opening in Sheffield. If you have no plans for Thursday and are in the Sheffield area then why not bimble along to the Showroom Cinema, for this fantastic adaptation of the medieval text, in story, song, and the beat of drums. Tickets are £5 (£3.50 concessions) and can be purchased on the door or from the Showroom Box Office on 0114 275 7727. Doors at 7.30 for a prompt 8.00 start.

But enough of me. I can't help but feel that it's time for some new blood around here...

There were no seasons

Good Morning,

It has been long time, a long time, and I apologise whole-heartedly for my absense. These feet, they hardly touch the ground, you know?

Rachel and I are off to the Storytelling Festival at Alden Biesen in Belgium tomorrow. A wonderful example of the doors that Young Tongues open, we were booked after one of the organisers saw us perform at the Beyond The Border festival last summer.

Here are Rachel and I at this years Young Storytellers contest, looking shifty.



And if you listen here, you can here Rachel giving you a tantalising taste of the Persephone myth, recorded for BBC radio.

You can now find the gallery of photos from The Young Storyteller of the Year Award 2008 at our web page Here!

Enjoy!

from

Fiona

Young Storyteller 2008 results

What a great event on 8 March!
And the results can be found here.
Photos to follow - watch this space.

Young Storyteller of the Year Award 2008

It's this Saturday - 8th March .... 10.30 -5, in the Library Theatre, Paradise Place, Birmingham.

Bring your mates!  Bring your mum!  Bring your agent!

Come and hear young storytellers breaking the glass ceiling of indifference with the high note of youthful energy.

You'll be MCed by your all-time favourite Blogmeister, Tim Ralphs and the beautiful Rachel Rose Reid, Young Storyteller of the Year 2007 - about to pass on her crown, sceptre and Doc Martin boots to her successor.

Will they be good?  Will they be great?  Will they be fantastic? .... Is the sky blue?  Is the Pope a Catholic?  Of course they will!!!!

I must go and lie down.  I'm getting over-excited.

Fiona

See you there:  Directions and full info at www.tradartsteam.co.uk.

New blood

Storytelling has been around for a long time, but so have many storytellers .... as we veterans lose our teeth, our hair and our marbles, new young fresh blood is needed to keep the vampires of our audiences happy ..... 

Don't be backward in coming forward!  5 MORE young storytellers (aged over 18 and under 26) are needed for the Young Storyteller of the Year Award on 8th March.  It won't hurt a bit ....

Application forms can be downloaded from www.tradartsteam.co.uk.  Click on Young Storyteller of the Year 2008

Hope to see you there

Fiona

Young Tongues Project Co-ordinator

The SfS Gathering

Hello folks.
Looking forward to meeting you in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I thought I'd let you know a couple of links.

Firstly, the Society for Storytelling's Gathering, which is from the 4-6th April in Exeter.
It's a weekend of workshops and tale telling, facilitated by professionals and aimed at people who use storytelling professionally, and also those who are enthusiastic and want to learn more.

Here's the programme:
http://www.peopletellstories.co.uk/GatheringSat.htm

And, did you know that I made an SfS Facebook group? I do not work for them or represent them, but thought it would be a nice portal. Feel free to add posts.
Just search for 'Society for Storytelling' and look for the flying orange symbol!

Graham's Star

The works of Rabbit & Fishcer are a collaborative collection of modern tales. For Valentine's Day, a story about romance, sheds and the stars that wheel overhead.

Listen here.

Moonraking Mumblings

I hope that everyone is having fun finding stories for March, or is looking forward to listening.
I am gathering my things and wandering off up to Slaithwaite to tell tales at the Moonraking Festival.

Wandering.
Must say that's the best tip I know for anyone who's having trouble shaping or recalling their tales.
Get out and walk and tell it to yourself.
People will think you're crazy but at least you'll have a good story to tell them by the end of it.

RRR

Young Storytellers of Wales (and Wolverhampton)

Peter Chand the storyteller tells me he was performing and acting as one of the judges for Young Storytellers of Wales the other day. Here's his take on it:
"what an amazing and talented bunch of kids! Had us 'old uns fearing for our careers. The youngest age group was 8-11, and a 6 year old got up and told, cos she fancied telling!! Really interesting and varied stories-and a whole heap of confidence- a great day."

Any Wolverhampton readers might like to pop along to
THE SW@N CLUB (Spoken Word At Newhampton)
Storytelling, poetry, a tune, or a song!
Take part, or just sit back and enjoy the many different voices that make Wolverhampton such a vibrant city.
First Monday of the month 8pm.
The Newhampton Inn, Riches Street (off Newhampton Road West) Wolverhampton WV6 0DW
Suggested donation £2.00 per person

Storytelling at The Old Queen's Head

It was to my delight that I discovered a regular monthly storytelling meet, taking place in my own city. On the last monday of the month there is a small gathering in the upstairs room of the Old Queen's Head, by Sheffield bus station from 8 onwards.

From a personal point of view the Old Queen's Head meeting is a great place to try new things out in a friendly enviroment, and a rich field from which to gather new material. The highlight for me, so far, has been a rather sinister tale about a doll's house, a story that I hope to add to my repetoire.

If you're interested then pop along, or e-mail me and I'll furnish you with further details. The group is diverse and meets for the shared love of craft, everyone who wants to tell can, and those who are simply there to listen are very welcome as well. I look forward to seeing you there.

Could you be Young Storyteller of the Year?

The Young Storyteller of the Year Event takes place from 10.30 to 5 on Saturday 8th March at the Library Theatre Birmingham.

There are two age categories, but the 15-18 age range is now FULL (though a waiting list exists). Space remains for 18-25 year olds, but please, if you are wondering about entering, take the bull by the horns and contact us SOON!

Here's the advice of last year's winner, Rachel Rose Reid: "If you are thinking of entering, I would like to encourage you to dive in. Sometimes life is too short to be shy!"

Contact us through Young Storyteller of the Year 2008, or phone Fiona on 01490 430 551

National Storytelling Week

National Storytelling Week is nearly upon us! Running from 26 January to 2 February, it certainly seems like a pretty exciting time.

I'll be performing on 2 February at the newly opened Where land and sea meet exhibition in North Somerset Museum, and I'm aiming to get a couple of Greek Myths up at The Room Behind the Bookcase during the week.

Why not leave us a comment with your plans for this up coming frenzy of telling?

In which Tim introduces a new project

I am new to storytelling.

Oh sure, I’m not entirely shrink-wrapped and shiny, nor wet behind the ears. But I’d be naïve not to realise that I’ve got a lot to learn, and that I need to hone my skills, expand my repertoire and work to build repute and credibility as an artist.

In 2007 I was commended at the Young Storyteller Competition. As a direct result of that I was invited to perform at the Festival at the Edge, and Beyond the Border, both very exciting (not to mention enormously useful,) opportunities. I’m delighted to be back at the Young Storyteller Competition as an MC this year, to partake in the grand event that will hopefully boost the confidence, bolster the resolve and bring attention to another year’s worth of young people trying to find their way in storytelling.

But I digress. 2007 brought some wonderful opportunities and challenges, and in each of them an opportunity to grow as a storyteller. In 2008 I wanted to go even further, to really push what I could do as a performer.

What I needed was some endeavour, something bigger and more challenging than anything I’ve undertaken before, something that I could focus on which would (and will) push me in new directions, and hopefully result in a tangible and brilliant piece of storytelling.

The project? To put together an adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the 14th century manuscript of mysterious origin.

The idea is pretty simple. Multi-instrumentalist Ashley Tuck and I will produce and perform an hour long show, with the story supported by song, extracts in Middle English, music and sound-scapes. We’ll kick off in Sheffield, and then take the piece on tour for the rest of 2008. Hopefully what we lack in experience we can make up for in enthusiasm. If not, then we’re in real trouble.

And because I work best with a clear deadline, the debut performance is already on the cards. The first of May, (Beltaine,) at the Showroom in Sheffield. I hope to see you there.

I’ve got a few other gigs between now and then, and I’ll post about them here, as well as a few other projects I’m working on. I’ll also use this as something of a design diary for the Sir Gawain piece, where I’ll explore the choices we take, the changes we make, and the mistakes we learn from as we go.

YSOY 2008

For a quick overview of the Young Storyteller of the Year 2008, click here

Young Tongues Newsletter

Preparations are well underway for Young Storyteller of the Year 2008, as is evidenced in the spring newsletter, which also features some familiar faces. Enjoy!