Taffy Thomas
Encyclopedia
Taffy Thomas, MBE
is a storyteller
, based in Grasmere
in the English
Lake District
.
as part of a series of national events for National Storytelling Week, for a period of two years. Brian Patten
, Michael Rosen
, Pete Suchil Chand, Patsy Heap, Del Reid and Simon Thirsk are patrons and official guardians of the first laureate for storytelling
Thomas trained as a Literature and Drama teacher at Dudley College of Education
, before teaching in Wolverhampton
. While teaching, he also founded two companies to promote folk theatre and rural arts. Thomas fronted and performed in the Fabulous Salami Brothers, the popular touring unit of Charivari, while The Magic Lantern traveled Europe illustrating folk songs by use of shadow puppets.
A stroke at the age of 36 brought another change in direction when he turned to storytelling
as self-imposed speech therapy. Now widely acknowledged as England's leading proponent in the art of traditional storytelling, Thomas boasts a repertoire of over 300 tales and elaborate 'lies' collected predominantly from oral sources and folklore
. With so many stories in Thomas's head, fellow storyteller Giles Abbot once remarked "when Taffy goes it will be like a library burning down."
In the 2001 New Year Honours List he was awarded the MBE for services to storytelling and charity, and later in the year performed a new collaboration for the Blue Peter
Prom at the Royal Albert Hall
in London.
Combining the fields of education and entertainment, Thomas has toured nationally and internationally, appearing at the Bergen
Arts Festival in Norway
, the American National Storytelling Festival
and a stint as storyteller-in-residence for the programme of summer residencies at the National Center for Storytelling in Jonesborough, Tennessee
in 2006.
Thomas is currently artistic director of Tales in Trust, the Northern Centre for Storytelling, in Grasmere, and a patron of the Society for Storytelling.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2009/nov/06/michael-peel-taffy-thomas-david-vann
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
is a storyteller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
, based in Grasmere
Grasmere
Grasmere is a village, and popular tourist destination, in the centre of the English Lake District. It takes its name from the adjacent lake, and is associated with the Lake Poets...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
.
Biography
In September 2009, Thomas accepted the honorary position of the UK's first Laureate for Storytelling, which was officially launched on 30 January 2010 at the British LibraryBritish Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
as part of a series of national events for National Storytelling Week, for a period of two years. Brian Patten
Brian Patten
-Background:Born near Liverpool's docks, he attended Sefton Park School in the Smithdown Road area of Liverpool, where he was noted for his essays and greatly encouraged in his work by Harry Sutcliffe his form teacher. He left school at fifteen and began work for The Bootle Times writing a column...
, Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009....
, Pete Suchil Chand, Patsy Heap, Del Reid and Simon Thirsk are patrons and official guardians of the first laureate for storytelling
Thomas trained as a Literature and Drama teacher at Dudley College of Education
Dudley College
Dudley College is a college of further education in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-History:In 1862 the Dudley Public Hall and Mechanics Institute was built. In 1896 this was expanded to become the Dudley Technical School, which became Dudley Technical College in 1926...
, before teaching in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. While teaching, he also founded two companies to promote folk theatre and rural arts. Thomas fronted and performed in the Fabulous Salami Brothers, the popular touring unit of Charivari, while The Magic Lantern traveled Europe illustrating folk songs by use of shadow puppets.
A stroke at the age of 36 brought another change in direction when he turned to storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
as self-imposed speech therapy. Now widely acknowledged as England's leading proponent in the art of traditional storytelling, Thomas boasts a repertoire of over 300 tales and elaborate 'lies' collected predominantly from oral sources and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. With so many stories in Thomas's head, fellow storyteller Giles Abbot once remarked "when Taffy goes it will be like a library burning down."
In the 2001 New Year Honours List he was awarded the MBE for services to storytelling and charity, and later in the year performed a new collaboration for the Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
Prom at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in London.
Combining the fields of education and entertainment, Thomas has toured nationally and internationally, appearing at the Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
Arts Festival in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, the American National Storytelling Festival
National Storytelling Festival
The National Storytelling Festival is held the first full weekend of October in Jonesborough, Tennessee at the International Storytelling Center. The National Storytelling Festival was founded by Jimmy Neil Smith, a high school journalism teacher in 1973...
and a stint as storyteller-in-residence for the programme of summer residencies at the National Center for Storytelling in Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 4,168 at the 2000 census...
in 2006.
Thomas is currently artistic director of Tales in Trust, the Northern Centre for Storytelling, in Grasmere, and a patron of the Society for Storytelling.
External links
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2009/nov/06/michael-peel-taffy-thomas-david-vann