How long have you called yourself a
Storyteller?
About 2 years
What has been you involvement in
Storytelling Australia (Vic)?
I have hosted the Stories by the Fire event
at Newport Folk festival for SAV, attended an AGM and a couple of other events.
What do you love the most about
storytelling?
I love it when you can hear a pin drop
because everyone is deep in an imaginary world of images from the story and it
feels like I am a leader of an expedition through the story. We are
there, in that world.
What is your favourite story?
At the moment I think it is a story I tell
at Summer Solstice called A Snowlballs Rent. It is set in the Scottish
Highlands and it is about justice, and triumph and nature.
What is the most memorable moment you have
experienced either as a listener or a teller?
Recently I had a very memorable day where I
told three or four stories about bullying to 70 grade threes and it was
magical. It was pin drop moment
and afterwards the kids were very generous in their praise. I went from
this session riding high, to a session at the school where my children attend
and I know very well. That was my mistake – I thought I had it sussed,
these kids knew about story, they knew how to listen, I could get away with an
old story some of them might have heard. It was hot day, the teacher
didn’t listen and then started talking to a child at the back, then a tap was
turned on behind me and first one child then several more started walking to
the tap, and then one child walked right across the front of me and said ‘I’ve
heard this story before’, and continued to get a drink. It felt
like my heart was on a plate in front of the children, and they kicked dust on
it. It was a good lesson for me in treating every audience with beginners
mind.
Describe a busy week?
I am not just a storyteller, I also do
group process work and personal development stuff so a busy week will have me
doing a whole host of things, preparing stories and remembering them to tell,
planning work, designing group process, coaching clients and studying, reading,
emailing... And looking after three kids, an elderly mother and best of all
walking the dog in the forest where I live.
What are you planning at the moment?
I am doing a little bit less storytelling
this year but I my extended family, some of whom I don’t know, are having a
once in ten year gathering and I have offered to tell a family story. So
now I have to find, craft and practice what really will be an historical story,
for this event. I am dreading and looking forward to it in equal measure.
Learn more about Kate: HERE
