The Heart of Storytelling

Alyssa Curtayne
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In this podcast, we will explore the art of oral storytelling; looking at its history, its relevance today and discovering storytellers who are passionate about bringing stories to you in the oral form. Each week we hear from a new storyteller who will bring a story to life and share their journey into this traditional artform.

  1. 6d ago

    Sarah Abusarar and Artistic Activism

    Sarah comes from a long line of Storytellers on her paternal side. She is an award-winning storyteller, recognized by the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Morocco, and she was a recipient of the Ann Smyth Travel Award from Storytelling Toronto. With her passion for storytelling, Sarah has shared her stories. lectures and workshops at festivals across the globe, including Canada, Norway, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Tunisia, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Cuba. Because Sarah grew up in several countries, she tells stories from around the world, with a focus on Palestinian and Croatian stories, where her roots lie. Her favourite stories promote social change. As a trained Expressive Arts Therapist, Sarah often incorporates stories into her therapeutic practice. She has used Storytelling as a therapeutic tool with children in refugee camps in Palestine and with refugee children in Toronto.  She works at the Parent Child Mother Goose Program using traditional storytelling with at-risk communities to encourage parent-child bonding.  Sarah is a member of the collective "Musical Story Studio," where music and stories are combined. Sarah tells stories so she may go deep inside of the tales and find herself in far-away magical places that she remembers from long, long ago.

  2. Oct 15

    Lilli Rodrigues-Pang and Diving into Remembering

    Lillian Rodrigues-Pang is an internationally acclaimed, award winning storyteller. Her performances intertwin the oral tradition with percussion, movement and improvisation to captivate and transport audiences. Be prepared to share the adventure, clap, sing, chant, dance and connect in the storied worlds she creates. She has performed on festival and theatre stages world-wide. When she is not on stage she is sharing story love in the community as a connective, teaching and healing art. She has over 20 years’ experience working in mental health settings, has a Masters in teaching and works in education and training globally. She teaches storytelling skills at Wollongong University business, on behalf of the Department of Education, is a literacy and tracy specialist and the lead storytelling trainer and artist for The Forked Tongues Collective of Think&Do tank. She has worked at a domestic violence service for women over the past four years in community development, creating and implementing programs around connection to country, story, song, voice, consent and grief.To find out more about her: LilliStory.com

  3. Oct 1

    Dougie Mackay and Ancestral Wisdom

    With a background in Community Education, my storytelling practice is steeped in group-work facilitation and storytelling as a tool for development, connection and empowerment.Hailing from the Scottish Highlands, I come from a lineage of natural storytellers, and am fascinated by the wild northern tales of Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland, the Baltics and Siberia.I also like to pick up stories from places visited such as India, West Africa, United States, Canada, Romania, Norway, Italy, Czech republic etc.Telling stories professionally for over 10 years, I have a wide repertoire of tales and have become renowned for my warm demeanour and engaging style of telling, with lots of audience interaction and rhythmic accompaniment.I especially love telling in outdoor environments and unusual settings and often devise outdoor learning sessions with storytelling at heart.As well as delivering hundreds of storytelling programmes in schools, museums, libraries and community venues, I have performed at some of the most prestigious storytelling festivals and events in the UK such as SISF (the Scottish International Storytelling Festival), FatE (Festival at the Edge), Village Storytelling Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival.I have travelled as a professional storyteller to Canada, Jordan, Morroco, Norway, Germany, Lithuania and Ireland.https://storyconnection.org/ dougie@storyconnection.org

  4. Sep 17

    Zouhair and Crafting the Endless Shore

    The journey began under the mastership of Haj. Ahmed Ezzarghani (RIP). In 2016 I was a bearer of a 1000 year old tradition and an English Literature Student at Cadi Ayyad University. I've remained deeply rooted in Marrakech, not just as my home but as my stage, my laboratory, and my muse. I co-founded the Marrakech International Storytelling Festival, bringing together storytellers from all continents while honoring the spirit of the Halq'a.My work in storytelling is borderless. Through residencies, performances, and collaborations across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, I've reimagined Moroccan storytelling as both an ancient art and a modern tool for connection. I've worked with Coca-Cola teams on narrative leadership, co-created with artists from Ireland to Istanbul, and brought the Halqa into brand experiences with Serge Lutens Paris and Urban Jungle. My international story series “Tales Across Borders” documents the voices of storytellers globally, while projects like the Hikaya School Program seed Moroccan methods into global education models. In 2025, I co-led a team that broke the Guinness World Record for the longest storytelling performance ever.https://www.zouhairthestoryteller.com/https://worldstorytellingcafe.com/

  5. Sep 3

    Anatolia and Exploring Imaginal Realms

    Anatolia is a multi-modal artist and storylover living in rural France. Born on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, of Pontian Greek heritage, she creates experiences, sculptures, writing at the meeting point of trance ritual and ecological connection. Running through all her work is the question: how can we listen to the little voice which connects us to the greater patterns of existence?Find out more about her at: becoming myth storytelling rituals rooting us in body, earth and stars

  6. Aug 20

    Daiva Ivanauskaitė Brown and Total Unity

    Daiva Ivanauskaitė-Brown is a professional Lithuanian storyteller based in Glasgow, whose background in history and heritage shapes her rich repertoire of Lithuanian and Scottish folklore and its' weaving with biographical tales. Known for her expressive body language, energetic delivery, and traditional Lithuanian singing, Daiva creates vivid, immersive worlds centered on womanhood, empathy, resilience, and the deep connection between people and nature. She performs widely across Europe and the UK at major book and storytelling festivals, museums, and community spaces. As a performance storyteller and a socially engaged practitioner listed in the Scottish Storytelling Forum storytellers' directory and Scottish Book Trust authors' register, Daiva works with The Village Storytelling Centre and regularly collaborates with other arts, culture and education organizations in Scotland and Lithuania bringing untold and lesser-heard voices into the spotlight. www.daivathestoryteller.com‍ ‍

  7. Aug 6

    Nana Tomova and Holding Vicarious Hope

    Nana Tomova is a traditional oral storyteller. She was born in Bulgaria where the Black Sea meets the Old Mountain and carries in her bones old tales of wise women and healing herbs; of golden maidens and winged serpents, stretching back to ancient Thracian times. Nana has told stories around the fire, and under the stars; in communities and women's circles; in forests and by the water’s edge. Her story walks have been featured in the Guardian and in Coast magazine.Holding a deep respect for the human experience, galvanised by her work as mental health pharmacist, she has built a bridge between the types of medicine people need. Nana regularly tells tales on her podcast, The Story Apothecary, dispensing stories as medicine. Her stories weave together elements of nature-regenerative folklore, rewilding and women's voices.Nana has studied under a tradition bearer of a women's oral storytelling tradition for the past seven years. She is currently undertaking a Masters level programme in Applied Storytelling. Nana has performed as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival and the International Scottish Storytelling Festival. She is the author of Bulgarian Folk Tales. Nana lives in the Scottish Highlands.Her Substack is https://substack.com/@nanatomovaInstagram is https://www.instagram.com/nana.tomova/ Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/NanaTomovaStoryteller/ The book can be found at: https://thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/bulgarian-folk-tales/Website www.nanatomova.com

  8. Jul 23

    Diep Tran and Keeping the Inner Child Alive

    Diep Tran is a language teacher, researcher, and storyteller.  She earned her PhD in Applied Linguistics from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2021. She has had more than 13 years of diverse teaching experience in Vietnam and New Zealand. Diep Tran is the creator of Sun and Moon Stories, a bilingual storytelling channel on Youtube. As an English teacher, she believes in the power of storytelling in teaching language to young learners. Diep Tran runs courses for teachers and parents on how to teach and connect with children through stories.

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About

In this podcast, we will explore the art of oral storytelling; looking at its history, its relevance today and discovering storytellers who are passionate about bringing stories to you in the oral form. Each week we hear from a new storyteller who will bring a story to life and share their journey into this traditional artform.

Information

  • Creator
    Alyssa Curtayne
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    89
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Alyssa Curtayne
  • Show Website
    The Heart of Storytelling