Jota Villaza (Jorge Ambrosio Villa Zapata) from Medellín, Colombia, has been a storyteller all his life. He often tells stories from the persona of his alter ego, a “campesino” or peasant farmer from the mountains of Antioquia, a home-grown yarn-spinner from Paisa tradition telling popular folktales of Colombia, and is the most recognized Colombian teller of popular tradition. He is the founder and director of the Vivapalabra Cultural Corporation and Storytelling School, and organizer of two important local and international storytelling festivals in Medellín.
Jota has been involved in theater since 1965 as actor, director and producer. He’s written several books and had numerous publications featured in cultural and artistic magazines around the Spanish-speaking world. He has performed at festivals in over 16 countries.
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JOTA VILLAZA
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Our Festival Performers
"Now that the world is standing still, people are asking for stories" Achira.
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Gerry Donlon
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Trevor Millum
a writer of… poetry for children and adults, short stories, a novel, books of local interest, education resources.
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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 .