A Cornucopia Of Tales and Tellers

Locks and Gold

Busy times for Simona and Alan, but we're doing our best to keep up with the project and deliver something new and special every time. 
In this episode, Simona reads 'Locks', a poem by Neil Gaiman and tells the story of 'Goldilocks and the three bears'. Enjoy!
A Cornucopia of Tales and Tellers is a passion project brought to you by English teachers Alan and Simona, who want to create a compilation - or cornucopia if you will - of stories from all around the world and by as many tellers from around the world as possible.  So grab a cup of tea, chai, water or uisce beatha, relax and enjoy hearing tales that have been handed down generations, or even ones that were dreamt up yesterday! Music by Purple Planet.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter.
If you like what you hear, you can Buy Us A Coffee to help fund future episodes and the hosting of our podcasts.

Storytelling for Peace

'Storytelling is an act of peace' - Christmas is a wonderful moment to stop and reflect on the importance of peace and on how much we need peace in this world. 
In this episode, Alan and Simona tell us about the World Storytelling Cafe event 'Storytelling for Peace' held on the 24th of December, and tell some of the stories they shared during the event.
If you couldn't attend the storytelling marathon and want to catch up, or if you want to watch it again, you can find it here - https://worldstorytellingcafe.com/performances/storytelling-for-peace-%f0%9f%95%8a%ef%b8%8f/
A Cornucopia of Tales and Tellers is a passion project brought to you by English teachers Alan and Simona, who want to create a compilation - or cornucopia if you will - of stories from all around the world and by as many tellers from around the world as possible.  So grab a cup of tea, chai, water or uisce beatha, relax and enjoy hearing tales that have been handed down generations, or even ones that were dreamt up yesterday! Music by Purple Planet.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter.
If you like what you hear, you can Buy Us A Coffee to help fund future episodes and the hosting of our podcasts.

Shoemaking Icelandic Christmases

Tis Christmas 2022, Alan and Simona bring you different cultures of Christmas, as Simona has a tale shoemakers and elves, Alan tells us about the Icelandic Jólasveinar or Yule Lads, before reciting his favourite Christmas poem by Clement Clarke Moore.
Nollaig shona dhuit, and to all, a good night :)

Musings on the Oxford Storytelling Festival

In this episode, Simona reflects on her first experience of going to a storytelling festival. She shares her thoughts about the Oxford Storytelling Festival and is joined in doing so by David Heathfield, Matt Sparkes and David Wigram. 
A Cornucopia of Tales and Tellers is a passion project brought to you by English teachers Alan and Simona, who want to create a compilation - or cornucopia if you will - of stories from all around the world and by as many tellers from around the world as possible.  So grab a cup of tea, chai, water or uisce beatha, relax and enjoy hearing tales that have been handed down generations, or even ones that were dreamt up yesterday! Music by Purple Planet.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter.
If you like what you hear, you can Buy Us A Coffee to help fund future episodes and the hosting of our podcasts.

Hands Up! with Hend and Ouds

This week we are joined by Hend in Palestine, who tells us of her storytelling experiences, mixing it up with learning the Oud and bringing that into the tales, plus we hear the tale of the idiom 'we buried it together' through a donkey.

A collection of Halloween tales...

In this episode, Simona and Alan are joined by three wonderful storytellers to share spooky tales from around the world. 
David Heathfield shares a story about a miser, Despoina Aristeidou shares a Jack tale with a spooky encounter, Alan shares a story about something that happened to his grandfather when he was young, Manuela Kelly Calzini shares a story about the quayside selkie and Simona shares a story about an Italian ogre. 

Apples, Wolves, Pots and Pans - Reimagining Old Tales

This week we took on a storytelling challenge, to retell a well known story from the point of view of an inanimate object in the tale.  Alan tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood from the point of view of the Apple, titled Arthur's Apples, and Simona tells the tale of Nasreddin and his Pot, from the point of view of the Pot itself.  We had great fun with this one!
Let us know what you think, and if you'd like to take part, suggest other tales or retellings, challenge us or tell one yourself, get in touch!

Alan Spins Yarns in Cork

Alan gives an update on his summer, having moved to Cork after IATEFL in Belfast, where he met up with the gang in Cork Yarnspinners.  They meet up the first Thursday of each month, and you really should make an effort to get there, as it's some craic. 
For those interested, you can listen to a live version of the song Grace here.
We also finish this week's podcast with a good old Nasreddin story.

Storytellers Debate - To Change or Update Tales?

This week we have not one, not two, but six storytellers and/or storytelling teachers online to discuss a point we raised in our last episode - should we change, edit or update our tales to fit with the current zeitgeist or feeling of the times?
Alan and Simona were very pleased to be joined by Enedina Sanna, David Heathfield, Manuela Kelly and Jackie Ross to discuss storytelling, tradition, mythology and what we would or wouldn't tell.  Enjoy.

Podcast Project Update

Just a short update on the project and podcast. 
As we're both teachers, the podcast does take time, effort, energy as well as funds to host the podcast services.  That's why we have launched a Buy Me A Coffee page to help pay for hosting and long term support of our project.
This is a passion project from the both of us and we're keen to continue telling tales long into the future, so give us a share far and wide!