Emily grew up surrounded by story and music. Running wild in the countryside of Kent by day, she entertained (& terrified) her cousins and sibling with story. By night, she sat in front of the fire with her Northern Irish family telling and singing of fairy folk, ghosts, monsters and myths. Her folk musician father helped her find her musicality and singing voice, something often used when Emily tells. She spent 10 years teaching English in inner-city London schools. Telling stories was key to making connections and raising the self-esteem of young people demoralised by the school system. This continues to be a passion for Emily, engaging with children and young people in schools, storytelling clubs, and community events.
As Tales from the Dragonfly, Emily has been a professional storyteller in and around London for the past 7 years, telling in national museums and galleries including The Museum of London, The National Gallery and The Royal Academy of Arts. She also captivates adult audiences with her “Stories for all Seasons” evening shows. Described by audience members as ‘magical, heartbreaking, hilarious!’, Emily performs at festivals around the UK and Northern Ireland, and has told tales in all sorts of places – monasteries, caves, river boats, graveyards, steam trains. Most importantly, she tells regularly to her son Leo. Emily believes that the role of a storyteller is to inspire the storyteller in others – she and young Leo currently host a children’s podcast series “Dragonfly Tales”, providing free stories for families all around the world.
Latest performance from 9 May 2020:
If you are enjoying this story, feel free to make a donation, everything you pop into the hat below goes directly to Emily :
Emily’s debut performance for the World Storytelling Cafe on 28 April at 14:00 in the story circle
If you are enjoying this story, feel free to make a donation, everything you pop into the hat below goes directly to Emily:
Emily Hanna-Grazebrook
If you would like to support this teller, please make a donation
Our Festival Performers
"Now that the world is standing still, people are asking for stories" Achira.
Justine de Mierre
A passionate, energetic and inventive storyteller who delights in connecting playfully
Gerry Donlon
aka Bards Aloud. Stories comic, and stories quirky
Trevor Millum
a writer of… poetry for children and adults, short stories, a novel, books of local interest, education resources.
Deeptha Vivenkanand
India based storyteller who loves to tell stories about stories, strong women, and political satire.
Fabio Lisboa
Storytelling Trainer who has performed/taught in Brazil, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
Bob Kanegis
A fortunate day spent on the trail with a park ranger who combined, poetry, puppets and folktales showed Bob the possibilities of the Storyteller's Way.
Irene Lofthouse
Irene uses words to inspire all ages, regularly appearing at arts/literature festivals and children's events; she's regularly booked by schools, museums, libraries, theatres, community groups, NHS, charities and more to facilitate bespoke sessions.
Maria Papanikolaou
The last 10 years I combine storytelling with educational programs for children, in Museums, Cultural Centers, Schools, Art places, etc. I love working with children. I have also published two books, a Greek Myth and a tale of my own.
Raine Geoghegan
Raine Geoghegan, MA, poet and prose writer of Romany, Irish and Welsh descent will share tales of the English Gypsies, Romanichals through poetry, monologue and song.
Antonio Rocha
Antonio has received several awards and grants, including the once in a lifetime Circle of Excellence Award. This award was presented to him in 2015 by the National Storytelling Network for his exceptional commitment and exemplary contributions to the art of storytelling.
Dawn Ellis
Dawn’s parents calmed her down with Grimm stories at bedtime and they stayed with her. She has been performing, one way and another, ever since.
Jan Williams
Her most popular books are An amazing storytelling cat and Essex folk stories for children.
Csenge Virág Zalka
She published several folktale collections, including Tales of Superhuman Powers: 55 traditional stories from around the world (McFarland, 2013), and Dancing on Blades: Rare and exquisite folktales from the Carpathian Mountains (Parkhurst Brothers, 2018)
Zouhair Khaznaoui
Zouhair has been sharing the magic of Hikayat since 2017 in the Clock Storytelling programme.
Theresa Kelleher
Theresa was born within the sound of Bow Bells to Irish parents. Out on the streets she was known as the ‘little Irish girl’, at home admonished for her cockney accent.
David Heathfield
He runs Creative and Engaging Storytelling for Teachers courses onlinehttps://davidheathfieldblog.wordpress.com/teacher-training/ and has worked online as a storyteller and storytelling teacher trainer internationally with the British Council, IATEFL and the Hands Up Project .