MEET THE TELLERS

Cat Weatherill

Storyteller, adventurer and best selling author

Cat is one of Europe's leading performance storytellers. She works internationally, often with the British Council, and has enjoyed solo shows at the Barbican and several commissions from Hay Festival.

She is bold, magical, passionate and strong, and performs with extraordinary focus and intensity. Her current adult work is fiercely female and rooted in the turbulence of midlife.

'Cat is one of our great storytellers, vivacious and inventive' Michael Morpurgo

To find out more about Cat and her work, see www.catweatherill.co.uk

Naomi Paul

Writer and performer: comedy, theatre, songs and spoken word.

Naomi Paul has performed at festivals across the country and in 2013, headlined 'Change', a writing festival in New York. She has taken solo shows to The Edinburgh Fringe and will be returning this summer with her new show 'Price Includes Biscuits'. Her work has been described as 'sharp, funny and deeply felt.'

Naomi has an MA in creative writing, runs writing workshops and has recently published a first poetry collection. She is a member of programme for 2015-6.

"Terrific deadpan delivery of material that is topical and relevant. Audiences loved it!"

Pulse Ensemble Theatre, New York. 2013.

To find out more about Naomi, please see www.naomipaulperformer.com

Tom Phillips

Tom has built up an outstanding reputation in Leicestershire, Birmingham and beyond, as an exceptional storyteller.

With his animated style and versatile voice, Tom can take you through worlds of fantasy, fables and fiction, delighting and engaging both audiences young and old.

A teacher by day, and storyteller by night, he has recently discovered the wondrously heartfelt and captivating world of true life storytelling, having performed regularly at 'Tell me on a Sunday', the Birmingham Book festival and with Flashlight Storytellers.

To find out more about Tom and his tales, please see www.tomthetaleteller.co.uk

Rich Stokes

Writer, performer, musician.

Rich is the author of several plays and solo shows including 'Blood and Bandages' and 'The Life of Thomas Fearnley' which have been performed and well-received at various venues in the West Midlands. He also writes fiction and has been published in Structo Magazine, One Title Magazine and Writing West Midlands amongst others. He won best short story in the 2012 Birmingham Literature Festival.

As an actor, Rich has starred in theatre, film and music videos and is also a storyteller for adults and children, performing regularly in Birmingham and throughtout the country.

For more information about Rich

mrrichstokes.wordpress.com

Tina Hofman

Tina is a theatre maker and director of Croatian origin.

Having moved to the UK to train in physical theatre, Tina lived in London before she fell in love and moved to Birmingham. Unwilling to settle in one place, Tina's work takes her between Croatia and the UK.

Most recently, she has directed new adaptations of 'Lady Chatterleys Lover', 'Ali Baba' and 'The Turn of the Screw'. She has also devised a story about loss for children and performs a non-verbal show for very young audiences.

Her solo show 'Lucid Interval' is currently undergoing further development in the UK.

Tina loves using true life material for creating performance and this drew her to join Flashlight Storytellers.

For more information about Tina, please see www.tinahofman.com

Gauri Raje

Migrant multilingual storyteller, workshop facilitator, anthropologist.

Gauri has found stories during her fieldwork in the villages of India and while living as an immigrant in the UK. She tells true life tales and has told and directed multilingual traditional storytelling performances. She runs acclaimed storytelling workshops in India, works in schools in India and also with asylum-seekers in the UK.

She is currently studying Creative Writing at Lancaster University.

For more information about Gauri, please see her LinkedIn page

Jane Campion Hoye

Perfomer, writer and storyteller.

Based in London, Jane worked as a professional actor in regional theatres, the BBC and West End. Relocating to the Midlands, she gained a MPhil in playwriting from university of Birmingham and in 2013 was selected as an emerging writer by Writing West Midlands for their Room 204 programme.

With a storytelling style described as 'powerful, evocative and engrossing', Jane's plays, stories and poems have been published and performed in a variety of venues, including local theatres, cafes, galleries, libraries, The Birmingham REP and BBC Radio 4.

To find out more about Jane, see www.inspire2speak.com

Gavin James Young

Gavin Young is a South African born storyteller, actor, writer, compere and poet with a real love for Birmingham and the Black Country. Gavin tells stories both personal, traditional. Growing up in a country that underwent times of trouble, controversy and change, before moving to a city that has transformed itself considerably, Gavin has a good deal of stories to tell!

A regular performer over three seasons of 'Tell Me On A Sunday' Gavin started his own successful storytelling evenings for adults, creating a platform for storytelling of many kinds whilst continuing to tell stories to adults, children and families. He has recently assisted in the production and direction of the sell-out theatre hit, 'A Passion For Birmingham' and is now working on theatrical storytelling shows to take on tour.

To find out more about Gavin and his storytelling evenings, see www.facebook.com/utterbearwood

Jessica Louise Drew

Writer, poet and storyteller.

Jess did her degree in English and Creative Writing at the University of Warwick, where she discovered poetry as her main medium.

She enjoys working with simple, powerful imagery and experimenting with traditional forms, and is particularly interested in the ways people remake or repurpose the world around them through their experiences and narratives.

Since her degree, Jess has gained an MA in English from Kings College, London, and now works in housing whilst reguarly performing her poetry and sharing her true life stories.

Kate Walton

Performance poet, lyrical true life storyteller, workshop faciliator and Storytramp.

'One woman's poetical mission'

To unravel the mysteries and create legends through the art of sharing stories and reconnecting with the people and poetics of life.

Slam winning poet and shortlisted by BASE as Outstanding Newcomer to Storytelling in 2013, Kate has enjoyed success with 'I Am Blackbird', her transformational one woman show, and is currently working on her second solo show 'Open' to be taken out on the road in 2016.

To learn more about Kate and her poetical endeavours, see k8walton.wordpress.com

Kristina Gavran

Kristina is a writer and theatremaker from Croatia. Her plays were produced by numerous Croatian theatres (ZKM, Mala Scena, Scena Gorica), published, broadcast by Croatian National Radio and awarded first prize by Croatian Ministry of Culture of play ready.

Kristina came to Birmingham in 2013 on an Erasmus intern scholarship. In 2014 she became part of the The REP Foundry, challenging herself to write her first full length play in English 'It's easy to say I love you' which can also be seen at The Pulse Festival. She is performing with Flashlight Storytellers and was recently chosen for China Plate's programme 'Optimist'.

You can find out more about Kristina, her plays and love of storytelling at www.kristinagavran.com

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