Carl Merry

Born in South Wales I spent most of my formative years either playing cricket or reading. Early encounters with the Greek myths sparked a lifelong love of these tales. As a teacher, I spent twenty six years attempting to instil a love of literature into teenagers.

In 1985 I discovered traditional storytelling was alive and part of a wider arts scene in Britain. I was immediately hooked and attended storytelling performances and workshops in order to find out more. I then began to use storytelling as an integral part of my teaching, writing a six week storytelling module for year 9 students and telling Chaucer’s tales to “A” Level classes prior to teaching the text.

Since leaving teaching in 2000 I have worked as a storyteller, telling in theatres, country parks, schools, Medieval re-enactment events, festivals, storytelling clubs and community groups. I have run workshops for adults and children, help organise The East Anglian Storytelling Festival, and as a member of The Essex Storytellers have devised storytelling projects based around the history of Essex.


Debut Performance for the world Storytelling Cafe on 11 May at 14:00

If you are enjoying this story, feel free to make a donation, everything you pop into the hat below goes directly to Carl :


Our Festival Performers

"Now that the world is standing still, people are asking for stories" Achira.


John Row

Much loved curator of our Story Circle. Perfoms each Sunday

Taffy Thomas

Iconic figure in British Storytelling

Hugh Lupton

Passionate for the hidden layers of the British landscape and related stories

Daniel Morden

A teller with passion and relish.

Kim Weitkamp

Renowned North American storyteller

Paul Jackson

Legendary teller, Chair of the Society for Storytelling

Shonaleigh Cumbers

Renowned teller from the Yiddish oral tradition

Juliana Marin Fryling

Travelling teller from Colombia. aka Achira

Dave Tonge

Teller of irreverent tales from many lands

Gayle Ross

Member of the Cherokee Nation, and legendary teller

Ian Douglas

Fun, inviting and light hearted, with a unique ability to connect

Gary Bridgens

Veteran of festivals and outdoor performances

Cafe Clock Tellers

Continuing a thousand year old Moroccan tradition,

Richard Hamilton

Passionate about Moroccan storytelling.

Alice morrison

Alice Morrison is an adventurer and confirmed Morocco-phile

Maria Whatton

A magical teller who will transport you to another place

Liz Weir

Irish teller with a Global reputation. Awarded an MBE in 2019

Trudy Terry

Our Texan teller from the borders with Louisiana

isabelle Hauser

Magical stories & harp from Switzerland

Debra Weller

Florida based teller and educator

RIIKKA PALONEN

A barefoot forest girl from Finland

Sharon Carr

Fantastic Canadian teller, with a varied repertoire

Shane Ibbs

Inspired by folk and fairy tales around an open fire

Tuup

Storyteller, Poet, Percussionist and Lyricist

Mike Dodsworth

Magical tales from the deserts, mountains and forests

Baden Prince

A dynamic performer known for his dry humour.

Pauline Cordiner

Scottish Stories from a rising star

Su Squire

Magical tales, and a very special guest star.

Veronica Chambers

An animated style of telling that sucks you in

Eamonn Keenan

Stories of heroes, the fairies, ghosts, witches, death and love

Giles Abbott

Giles is in huge demand as both a writer and performer.

Justine de Mierre

A passionate, energetic and inventive storyteller who delights in connecting playfully

Janina Vigurs

A children's teller who rejoices in the ridiculous

Clive Pig

Children of all ages love Clive's lively shows

Sef Townsend

Traditional tales and stories collected on Sef's extensive travels

Hannah Brailsford

Powerfulland versatile teller

Maria Credali

traditional tales to take you on a journey of magic and myth.

Suzanne Arnold

Strong female protagonists

Gerry Donlon

aka Bards Aloud. Stories comic, and stories quirky

Sola Story

Bringing metaphors and tales alive

Chip Colquhoun

Renowned children's teller and educator

Laura Casillas

"The Story-Lady" From Guanajuato, Mexico

Gary Cordingly

Exploring the connections between oral and visual storytelling

GRACIELA VERÓNICA

"La Juje", from the province of Jujuy in Argentina

Emily Hanna-Grazebrook

Magical, heartbreaking, hilarious!

JOTA VILLAZA

The leading traditional folk teller from Colombia

David Thompson

Hold onto your hat as David whisks you away.

Sarah Lloyd-Winder

Tales of adventurous women

Lorenzo Caviglia

Our Italian master teller

Órla Mc Govern

Renowned Irish teller and playwright

Cath Little

Gifted Welsh teller.

Lisa Schneidau

storyteller and environmentalist

Mark Fraser

Storyteller, illustrator and writer.

Tom Phillips

Tom 'the Tale Teller' Phillips

Nick Toczek

A legend in the poetry world, curator of our World Poetry Cafe

Donavan Christopher

aka RAPPAMAN, Respect All People.

Paul Cookson

Best selling poet and musician

Roger Stevens

An award winning poet, author and musician.

Ian Whiteley

English poet, singer/songwriter and performer

Alexander Dickow

Bilingual poet writing in English and French

Sue Hardy-Dawson

Yorkshire born poet, artist, and illustrator

Philip Nanton

a creative writer and spoken word performer from Barbados

Julie Stevens

Jumping Jules, poet from Cambridge

Clare Bevan

Bracknell’s First Poet Laureate

Amanda Edmiston

storyteller and writer with a background in herbal medicine

Roger Jenkins

Award winning Singaporean Storyteller

Trevor Millum

a writer of… poetry for children and adults, short stories, a novel, books of local interest, education resources.

Kirsty Hartsiotis

Gloucestershire-based storyteller and writer

Paul Richmond

US based Beat Poet Laureate

Deeptha Vivenkanand

India based storyteller who loves to tell stories about stories, strong women, and political satire.

Tamar Eluned Williams

Award-winning Storyteller from Wales

Carl Merry

Storyteller from Essex, UK

Nana Tomova

Sussex Based Storyteller from Bulgaria

Amy Douglas

Award Winning Storyteller, performer, promoter and advocate for the past three decades

Vanessa Woolf

"London's resident storyteller"

Giorgiana Elena Popan

Romanian Storyteller and Actress

Chris Warren

English Poet and Performer

Ellen Sjömålen

Swedish storyteller from The Land of Legends

Jay Leeming

Storyteller and Poet from the US

Marion Leeper

Storyteller from Cambridge

David Driver

West Yorkshire poet

Polina Tšerkassova

Storyteller, multi-instrumentalist and anthropologist from Estonia

Norman Perrin

Storyteller from Canada

Adriana Ene

Storyteller from Romania

Paro Anand

Multi-award winning writer, Paro Anand writes for children, young adults and adults

Rob Cloney

Rob Cloney is a Canadian storyteller who has been delighting audiences for over 30 years.

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.

Colin Urwin

Colin Urwin hails from the Glens of Antrim in Northern Ireland.

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.

Jo Henwood

Jo is co founder of the Australian Fairy Tale Society

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.

Deepa Kiran

Deepa has been in the fields of education, communication & performing arts since 1998.

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 .