Michael Kerins tells tall and fantastical stories, blending folktales and contemporary life. As astoryteller, his style breathes the humour, cheek and survivor’s instinct of folktales through the centuries.

Michael works regularly with children, whom he likes to involve in the action and development of the stories. But he is equally a skilled entertainer for adult groups in community or arts centre settings. He is interested in language acquisition and the way children express themselves through story. He has worked with medical educators at Glasgow University, at sales seminars, in-service days and conferences.

Born and brought up in Glasgow Scotland, in a large family, Michael became accustomed to the use of precise but uncomplicated language, since both his parents were registered blind, and his own imagination was nurtured by his father’s magnificent improvisational storytelling. Michael Kerins made his debut as a storyteller during the Glasgow Year of Culture in 1990 and has appeared since then at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at hundreds of events and festivals all over the world.

He is currently enjoying the success of his books about weetom and sharing his tiny adventures in classrooms and community settings in Scotland and much further afield.

In 2002 Michael set up an International Translation competition and was awarded The W.E. Upjohn Humanitarian Award Gold Medal and which he hopes to endow as a legacy at MIST25