Born in the exceptional circumstances created by the COVID 19, World Storytelling Cafe is brought to you by the team from Marrakech Riad. Under normal circumstances we operate five lovely boutique hotels. On Sunday 15th of March Morocco quite rightly closed its borders as it started to intensively fight the pandemic.
We needed to keep our team together with a positive focus, and we wanted to try to make a meaningful contribution in these difficult times that would reach as far as possible. Our Storytelling Cafe in Marrakech was already under construction.
During the week that followed, in parallel with supporting the repatriation of guests to three continents and the preparation of our business for COVID 19 lockdown, we seized the opportunity to create an online embodiment of our vision for the intended venue and this site is the result.
Our IT team have provided the platform. Our reservations team will act as moderators of forums and support buddies for tellers. Our Marrakech team will bring you some of North Africas legendary tellers providing translation where appropriate. We set ourselves high standards and collectively we will attempt to curate this programme with the love and care that we do our hotels.
When the technology is tested and proven our Marketing and PR team will promote World Storytelling Cafe to a global audience with the same dynamism that led the BBC, the New York Times and Conde Nast Traveller to showcase our hospitality, and Gordon Ramsay to choose our cookery school to prepare his 2019 Xmas lunch.
TELLERS
We are hugely grateful to our tellers, led by our dear friend and former guest John Row.
These stories are widely available for all to view, then we “pass-the-hat” in time honoured fashion so that those who can afford to have an opportunity to show their appreciation. 100% of monies popped in your hat go to you, in fact they can go directly into your PayPal or you gofundme account if you have one.
LISTENERS
We are hugely excited at the programme of storytellers who have committed to perform in the coming weeks. They offer an opportunity to reconnect with our oral heritage. We hope they will both educate and entertain you, bringing positivity, joy and laughter at a difficult time, possibly the defining moment for our generation.
All are welcome at the World Storytelling Cafe and we do not charge admission. However, if you can afford it, please give generously to support our tellers. These are not the easiest times for performing artists with venues and festivals closed at short notice.
GET INVOLVED
We’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback so please get in touch.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
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 .