It was back to school with a bump this week. I spent Wedensday storytelling on the theme of commitment with children from nursery age to Year 2. The day was a reminder that children as young as 3 can contribute to shaping tales, as Gussin Paley says: ‘Storytelling is the social art of language’.

Yesterday, I provided storytelling training for folk who volunteer with a major UK nature charity. After identifying our skills as natural storytellers, we applied our (now) explicit knowledge to telling stories of place focusing initially on the human, and then on the non-human inhabitants.

This showreel brings together clips from the performance at Surrey Storytellers monthly club, Three Heads in a Well, on 25 July 2025 (and one clip shot in Dover Market Square). Filming was by Gary Thomas. Alastair can be contacted through his website: www.storytent.co.uk youtube.com/shorts/pcuK1...

Following stories from the floor, I brought ‘When the Gentlemen Go By' to Surrey Storytellers last night. The whole room sang along with Kipling’s ‘Smuggler’s Song’ & then travelled across Romney Marsh to Aldington knoll, and from Dover Gaol to the haunted chalk pit of 'Smuggler's Leap'

On Friday 25 July Surrey Storytellers welcomes Alastair K with 'When the Gentlemen Go By: Stories and Songs of South Coast Smuggling'. Tickets on the door/pre-book at: surreystorytellers.co.uk (£10 full price in-person; £7 concession in-person) There are taster videos here youtu.be/BFxRP89T1Po?...

Earlier in the year I was interviewed by Despina Ariou and Simona Stambazzi for the 'Tell, Muses' podcast. We discussed storytelling in education and the fearlessness of young children with language, the use of objects in storytelling, & how stories speak to people: open.spotify.com/episode/77aH...

Yesterday, I was enjoyed being part of The National Centre for Family Learning’s Story Power conference. My contribution, Oral Storytelling as Playful Pedagogy, looked at the characteristics of play & how to nurture playful storytelling with and between children. #storytelling #play #families #story

Belinda McKenna and I have had a great evening representing Surrey Storytellers for one of Surbiton Inner Wheel's 'Try anything once' sessions. Despite the heat, the multi-generational group threw themselves into storytelling activities and entertained each other with the tales they devised.

I am back home from the UKLA International Conference where I delivered an Expert Practice Session on 'Twisting Tales - challenging power, role and visibility in folk and fairy story' in which participants considered the nature, attributes & the lot in life of characters in well-known fairy tales.

Last April, I was in Marrakech with John Row and Sef Townsend for 'Merchant Stories: Marrakech to Manchester'. I was interviewed by the fabulous Zouhair Khaznaoui (co-director of the Marrakech International Storytelling Festival) for the Storyteller's Podcast. youtu.be/hu4-kLXTKNQ?...

Join @akdaniel.bsky.social, The Story Tent, at the #StoryPowerConference on 3 July 🏕️ Alastair will share ways for teachers and learners to be playful in oral storytelling, using everyday items to spark stories. Watch the short video for more. Book your place: bit.ly/StoryPowerCo... #FamilyLearning

What a lovely weekend at The East Anglian Storytelling Festival, meeting lots of old friends and making some new ones, listening to fabulous storytelling sets, getting in some stories myself, and eating far too much. #storytelling #festival

It was back to the classroom this morning for me working with Yr 6 children. I love Gregory Rogers' wordless text 'The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard' which was our inspiration for group process storytelling - developing ideas together through telling, rather than performing to an audience.

Yesterday I attended the UK Literacy Association ITE SIG conference on oracy & was delighted to be asked to give a short talk of the nature of educational storytelling: any chance to bang the drum for storytelling is always welcome. Thank you to the organisers and contributors for a fascinating day.

Stories from the smuggling history of Kent and Sussex seem to be filling much of my waking hours at the moment, so it was a real pleasure to be able to walk the ground that both smugglers & the revenue men who pursued them had walked in previous centuries. Thank you Gary Thomas for the camera work.

While in Marrakech in January, I recorded two stories for the House of Stories website (curated by Richard Hamilton). You can find the collection here: thehouseofstories.com, and my two stories here: King John's Trout: youtu.be/YQxUlqwfSDM?... and The Longest Story: youtu.be/HSVa1E0H_fQ?...

To mark #WorldBookNight, I was invited to talk at Kensington Central Library on Folk and Fairy Tales and the Oral Tradition. We started with the pull of narrative on the human mind, looked at the development of the fairy tale tradition, & considered common characteristics of traditional tales.

If you are in Stoneleigh, or the environs, why not celebrate World Book Night at the library on Wednesday with Surrey Storytellers www.stoneleighlibrary.org.uk/what-s-on/co...

With a theme of New Beginnings, our April session sees Three Heads in a Well gives the floor over to an ensemble evening with our local tellers. We will be both in-person and online. Tickets on the door or at: surreystorytellers.co.uk (£10 full price in-person; £7 concession in-person; £6 online)

In my role as Education Lead on the board of the Society for Storytelling I submitted evidence to the independent The Commission on the Future of Oracy Educ'n in England last year. In this blog I discuss oracy in English education & give a summary of my submission www.akdaniel.co.uk/single-post/...

While I was in Belgium, Paul Contryn and I made our 3rd story video. These videos are made very quickly and provide a context for us to make work together - we hope one day perform the stories live. This tale combines The Fairies (Perrault) and Mother Holle (The Grimms). youtu.be/0pbH3ZdaZMU?...

Last night, a good crowd gathered for Surrey Storytellers. Minnie Wilkinson told ‘Gutted’: a collection of Norfolk tales framed by stories of the travelling fish gutters. Minnie blended song & story, sometimes creating effects by looping her vocals to create a multi-voiced chorus. #storytelling

Almost time to enter the forest in the company of the rude mechanicals and the fairy folk - and Year 5. #shakespeare #storytelling #oracy #literacy

Yesterday was spent in a Mechelen primary school with Paul Contryn. I think the importance of this kind of outreach from Theatre DE MAAN can not be overstated, providing children with a bridge joining natural play to the conventions of theatre, audience perspective & the crafting of performance.

I wonder if the noise of mental cogs grinding and sounds of dextrous hands manipulating cardboard are disturbing the neighbours in this quiet suburb of Mechelen.... #storytelling #puppetry

Back working at the story face in Belgium- thank you Michiel Stiers and Baudouin Roelants for organising this visit, help during the day and photos. BTW I worked out that the Sir Simon puppet in the photo is 30 years old next year. I have been doing this for a looooooong time... #storytelling

I am home after a rewarding few days in Athens - having told in a local school on Friday, I gave my address on embodiment in storytelling to the 46th TESOL Greece conference on Sunday morning with a delightfully engaged room of conference delegates. #storytelling #pedagogy #education

February’s Three Heads in a Well saw us travel to the West with Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy in the company of Matthew Jerrard, who brought a not insignificant cast of characters to life with his energetic, humorous, and staff-wielding performance of ‘Journey to the West’.

Three Heads in a Well storytelling club welcomes our own Matthew Jerrard this month, telling tales from 'Journey to the West'. If you would like to pre-book an in-person or online ticket, go to: surreystorytellers.co.uk (£10 full price in-person; £7 concession in-person; £6 online) #storytelling

As we come towards the end of the Society for Storytelling National Storytelling Week #nsw25, I have enjoyed giving three community talks over the week on the nature of storytelling: for the WI in Outwood, St John the Baptist, Old Malden's Men's Thing and Kensington Central Library. #storytelling

To celebrate National Storytelling Week #nsw25 yesterday, Tracy Parvin and I ran a @uklitassociation.bsky.social CPD focusing on storytelling to develop & contextualise vocabulary. We were thrilled to welcome Carmel Page as our guest presenter on storytelling & embodiment in curriculum learning.

I am back home after a stimulating week of storytelling at the Marrakech International Festival. We visited schools, performed in venues across the city and established the new world record for continuous storytelling in the Jemaa-el-Fna square - a place with a storytelling tradition of 1000 years.

THIS SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY 1030-1300h: to celebrate the start of National Storytelling Week 2025, online CPD from the UKLA - Storytelling, Oracy & the Curriculum: Making Connections, facilitated by me, Trace Parvin and Carmel Page - tickets £5 available through TryBooking:https://tinyurl.com/3xkef5a7

A bit chuffed to be the storytelling face of National Astronomy Week which coincides with National Storytelling Week in 2025. I have written a pack 'Chasing the Moon' for teachers of learners 8+ using a story to explore phases of the Moon: www.sfs.org.uk/nsw and www.astronomyweek.org.uk/storytelling

I am delighted to have been invited to the 3rd Marrakech International Storytelling Festival. The 2023 festival was a joy (see photo montage), and I am looking forward to meeting old friends, making new ones, hearing stories + sharing some of my own tales. #Marrakech #storytelling #storyteller

Surrey Storytellers begins 2025 by welcoming Alys Torrance to Three Heads in a Well storytelling club telling 'Stoopid' on the fourth Friday of January. This month, we are in-person only. Get your ticket on the door or pre-book a ticket at : surreystorytellers.co.uk (£10 full price; £7 concession)

youtu.be/6gL5BmOnAu0?... This video was recorded as my contribution to Simona Stambazzi’s 2024 ‘Words of Kindness’ Advent calendar on YouTube. Alastair can be contacted via his website: www.storytent.co.uk

Last night marked the 15th Christmas storytelling performance in aid of the work of St John the Baptist It was a cracking evening courtesy of a fully involved audience shouting contributions to the tales throughout (most of which were appropriate...) and enhanced by Mr Henry's refreshments.

I was delighted to be invited to tell a couple of tales at the Roehampton Uni carol service last week. I was very nervous, but needn't have worried: the congregation seemed to respond warmly to the novelty of storytelling in a seasonal act of worship. #storytelling #liturgy #Christmas

Simona Stambazzi has invited a different storyteller for each day to create her Advent calendar. Today it's my turn with a tale from Charles Perrault (1697). youtu.be/u-7CiXcufkY?...

What better way to celebrate the winter season than to listen to stories. Stories told without a script, a free flow of words and thoughts and descriptions. The magic of storytelling. We are live at 8pm GMT on Wed 18th Dec. Contact me if you want to watch. #storytelling #myth #legend #folklore

Come along for some warming tales on 21 December.

Storytelling, Oracy and the Curriculum: Making Connections An online event: Sat' 1 Feb' 1030-1300h, tickets £5: tinyurl.com/ywpbyedx To celebrate National Storytelling Week 25, the @uklitassociation.bsky.social is offering a training event for anyone wanting to use storytelling in the classroom.

For our final club evening of 2024, Surrey Storytellers welcomed Jumana Moon with a good turnout both in-person & online. Jumana’s gentle humour and contained physicality led us through her tales from Muslim culture, which followed stories from the floor. #storytelling

Despite the unexpected wintry conditions, great to gather ministers from across what will be new West Midlands District of @methodist.org.uk for a day exploring storytelling with @akdaniel.bsky.social Highly recommended!

Returning to Roehampton University earlier this week, I explored storytelling as playful pedagogy with undergraduates, connecting quirkiness, flexibility and redundancy (Sutton-Smith) in storytelling with Craft's ‘Little-c Creativity’. #pedagogy #play #creativity #education #storytelling

I'm Alastair Daniel, a storyteller, consultant and independent scholar. I have a background in education and ended my full-time HE career as head of Primary & EY English at Roehampton University, where I specialised in storytelling in teaching and learning. #storytelling #education #pedagogy