Storytelling - stories from the tree of life

Kirklees Libraries invite you to step into a world of stories!

A good story, well told, can enthral, entertain, delight, amuse, thrill or terrify.  Stories teach us about the world, about ourselves and about each other.  Stories and storytelling can help us to celebrate difference and find common ground. Listening to and telling stories is a shared creative experience unlike any other. Storytelling is for everyone.

Kirklees Library & Information Centres have been awarded a grant by Arts Council England to run a major storytelling and arts project from April 2008 onwards.  The project hopes to promote storytelling as a vibrant and accessible form of live literature that can be shared by people of all ages and backgrounds.  Many people already understand the value of stories in childhood, but we are particularly keen to develop an adult audience for the rich, varied and daring tradition of oral storytelling.

As well as mesmerising performances by some of the country’s finest professional storytellers, there will be a variety of workshops, exhibitions and readers’ group activities that will encourage us to think about stories and storytelling in relation to other art forms, including creative writing, song writing, paper crafts and textile arts. 

We’re also very excited to announce that an original storytelling performance by a professional storyteller will be commissioned, developed and performed especially for this project, to be premiered at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in November.

We will keep updating these pages with more news and information about the project.  For further information about the project, please email either mailin.li@kirklees.gov.uk or sarah.jackson@kirklees.gov.uk  or phone Mai Lin or Sarah on 01484 226364.  If you would like to be added to an email list for regular updates on storytelling events, please let us know.