The Heart of Storytelling – Details, episodes & analysis

Liz is a storyteller and narrator of systems for life: food, water, energy, movement, community, hope, and spirit of the land. 
An engineer by training, and a storyteller by provenance, Liz grew up between worlds. Between Manchester's swagger of industrial ingenuity and a remote valley in the Yorkshire Dales where folk spoke in Norse dialect and roaring becks flowed with peat-brown water, coloured with tannins from ancient mosses.
20 years ago, Liz was called by the far away land of Australia through memories of her Granny's tape-recorded tales of life in the Australian bush. 

Liz is an environmental consultant and sustainability project manager at City of Canada Bay Council.You can see her website here: Thrive Story

Durgah Devi Palanisamy (Dee) is an international, multicultural storyteller and educator from Singapore, currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Her boundless passion for the art of storytelling radiates through her captivating narratives, engaging and creating connections worldwide. She shares her love for Asian folktales and stories with audiences of all ages. With a background in speech and drama education, she skillfully weaves together tales that inspire, entertain, and educate. Her work includes personal and bilingual stories, tales for personal transformation, and more recently exploring rhythm in creative ways. Dee is also a coach/trainer and is grateful to connect with people and different communities through stories.

Rebecca Lemaire is a versatile Belgian-British storyteller based in the south of Spain. She tells stories and teaches wherever the wind takes her across Europe, Asia and Africa, at festivals, in a prison, in a Tibetan monastery and online with Palestinian refugees. Her repertoire includes mystical and healing stories, humorous tales from her Belgian and British roots, magical stories from the times of Al-Ándalus and stories from India and Arabia where she lived for several years. She often uses sounds (flute, kalimba, voice, and drum) to support the stories she tells.She also leads groups in an exploration of death and grief through storytelling, conversation, creativity and meditation online, as well as in person. She has recently co-written and published a book on the subject called, ‘Stories of the Heart – A Journey into Dying and Living’. She is a Reiki healer and is an active participant in the group ‘Vivir y Morir’ in Spain, in which the taboo about death is overcome through discussions, practical and spiritual preparation, films, poetry, and stories. She says, “Storytelling is a form of communication that goes way beyond words; it is a heart-to-heart interaction, and that is why I love it!”www.rebeccalemaire.comFacebook: Rebecca LemaireInstagram: @rebecca.storyteller

Shane is a trained Oral Storyteller from the UK, with International and National experience in Canada, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Holland, Sweden, Ireland and all over the UK. A frequent storyteller at numerous UK festivals and schools, having also curated and run storytelling at several UK festivals. Shane has been a ‘Resident Storyteller’ for over 7 years concurrently, in different children’s outdoor learning settings and continues to be. Shane has also been a ‘Resident Storyteller’ for several Arts Festivals in East Anglia. For 2024 he is ‘Storyteller in Residence’, for Haverhill Arts Centre, in Suffolk. Later this year, Shane has been invited back to a well-known festival in Ireland, as a guest oral storyteller and workshop leader.storytellershane.co.ukFacebookInstagram

Rebecca Lemaire is a versatile Belgian-British storyteller based in the south of Spain. She tells stories and teaches wherever the wind takes her across Europe, Asia and Africa, at festivals, in a prison, in a Tibetan monastery and online with Palestinian refugees. Her repertoire includes mystical and healing stories, humorous tales from her Belgian and British roots, magical stories from the times of Al-Ándalus and stories from India and Arabia where she lived for several years. She often uses sounds (flute, kalimba, voice, and drum) to support the stories she tells.She also leads groups in an exploration of death and grief through storytelling, conversation, creativity and meditation online, as well as in person. She has recently co-written and published a book on the subject called, ‘Stories of the Heart – A Journey into Dying and Living’. She is a Reiki healer and is an active participant in the group ‘Vivir y Morir’ in Spain, in which the taboo about death is overcome through discussions, practical and spiritual preparation, films, poetry, and stories. She says, “Storytelling is a form of communication that goes way beyond words; it is a heart-to-heart interaction, and that is why I love it!”www.rebeccalemaire.comFacebook: Rebecca LemaireInstagram: @rebecca.storyteller

Corinne is a storyteller, performance maker and teacher with mixed Irish / English ancestry.Beginning with folktale, myth or legend and emerging in the complex world of today, Corinne creates performances that recentre marginalised voices and silenced histories. From festival tents to lecture halls, board rooms to community centres, Corinne's performances are collaborative experiences between the story, the teller, and the audience; she believes the most important part of a story is who’s listening.You can learn more about her work at her website. To view an extract from her Tamara story, find it on the home page.You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Jenny Lynne Sessions aka Jen-ix. Is a truly unique open hearted powerful, multi-dimensional, magical being . ….. A creative catalyst for change and transformation a compassionate cage rattler, shamanic healer, transpersonal therapist, seer, coach, poet, author and speaker, storyteller, songwriter, radio presenter,channel for higher guidance and healing sound frequencies. Honouring the interconnectedness of all life, Jen-ix uses the profound healing power of nature and the glorious gift of humour. She uses drum, voice and sacred song to harmonise discordant energy. This sonic process activates and liberates healing within the land, a person or an animal's energy field. It opens multi-dimensional doorways through which to journey deeply and heal. When facing death in 2009, with a severely fractured spine, Jen-ix chose to re-commit to life with a new frequency, becoming her own medicine and turning trauma to treasure. This is what she teaches with passion, compassion and gratitude. The wisdom of the elders and ancestors underpins her own medicine. Magic always surrounds her. If you would like to Harness your intent Challenge your edges Empower your mission Open your heart Experience multidimensional healing Trot over hot coals in a sacred way …. Turn trauma to treasure Become more authentically your own medicine Discover your authentic voice…. Re-member your self and align with soul purpose consciously Get in touch. I look forward to welcoming you to your hearth.You can find out more about her work at Healing Transformation | Become Your Own Medicine - Turning Trauma To Treasure www.becomeyourownmedicine.co.uk

In this episode, I interview Lisbeth who is a classmate from Emerson College, we are studying oral storytelling.

Elena Medusa was born in Thessaloniki Greece and had a career in cinema for fifteen years. She then started a second career as a voice facilitator. Six years ago she met the Odyssey again after not working with it since her school years. Odyssey and Elena started their storytelling adventure together. She lives in Athens and travels frequently to the islands and to ancient temples where she recites The Odyssey and performs storytelling of Medusa, Medea, Demeter and Persephone, and other myths.Find out more about her work via:Email: amashia2@yahoo.gr Facebook page: Reciting Odyssey on ancient trails Facebook profile: Elena Medusa

In this brief episode, I talk about myself, which in itself is a personal challenge, as I'm more than happy to let others take the limelight. But as I explain in the episode, there is a lot of deep unravelling happening for me in this course.