Phil Okwedy

I tell stories to anyone who is willing to listen. I tell stories that come from the richness of the world's oral tradition. I tell stories that speak to me in the belief that they will speak to you too.

Having been a teacher, I am at ease telling stories to children of all ages. I understand that storytelling is a powerful tool for raising standards in literacy as well as playing a crucial role in developing emotional literacy skills in young people.

But storytellling is not only for children and I am passionate about reacquainting adult audiences with storytelling. Like the old Heinekien advert used to say, story refreshes the parts that other art forms cannot reach. It is cinema for the mind but unlike a film or a book, the story is only really present, only really alive, when there is a teller to tell and an audience to imagine it.

In 2010 I became a trainee of the MYTHOS-Grundtvig project, a partnership of 5 international storytelling festivals providing and exchanging training of storytelling techniques and methods. I now utilize this experience to provide training for those wanting to become storytellers.

I have told stories in schools, libraries, pubs, golf clubs, storytelling clubs, roundhouses, yurts, tepees and at festivals in Aberystwyth, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, as well as at Wales' own international storytelling festival, Beyond the Border held bi-annually at St Donats Castle, Glamorgan.

Storytelling might begin back in ’Once upon a time', but its magic happens, and is very much relevant to right now - is relevant to children, women, and men right now. So, I now split my time between teaching and telling in order to bring this relevance to new audiences wherever I can.