The fourth episode of the STORY WOK has a distinctly bookish flavour as hosts Roger Jenkins and Krupa Vinayagamoorthy have handpicked three tasty tales from the banquet that is ROYALS, WISE AND OTHERWISE, FEAST’s second collection of Asian folktales published in 2019.

Lynne Kirk (Hong Kong) tells a heavenly love story from China; Richard Dian Vilar (Philippines) celebrates a gender-defying Princess from Mindanao, and Lavanya Prasad (Bangalore, India) has fun with a comic tale of a decidedly other-wise King hungry for a never-ending story!

We catch up with Richard and a rising young Filipina teller, Simone Sales, and learn about the role of storytelling in Filipino culture, and it's appeal to young people there today.

As a book was our starting point, when the podcast team gathered in our virtual Pantry for a quick coffee, cake and chat, we talked about how we transition from reading a story aloud (and thinking ‘Ooh great story – I want to tell that!’) to actually telling it in our own words. If you haven’t tried re-telling a story in your own words before (afraid to put the book down?!) you’ll find this very helpful. We also issue an interesting challenge – are you going to throw it back at us?!

Finally, we managed to get Kiran Shah, a Singaporean who played a key role in encouraging the revival of storytelling in the Republic from 1999 onwards, to sit down in the clinic and talk about finding your voice. Not everyone is a loud and demonstrative performer – and Kiran shares thoughts on how to be a powerful yet quiet presence. She also discusses how to look after your voice (after you have found it!) and shares a comical cautionary tale about pre-performance eating habits!  As a Singaporean (with a Gujrati Indian heritage) now transplanted to the blue mountains of Australia, Kiran also has useful experience of performing in differentcultural settings – and adjusting her telling accordingly.

CONTRIBUTING STORYTELLERS

Lynne Kirk has been telling stories for over 25 yrs in Asia and the UK. She has a magical Story Apron to suit early years/lower primary age children and can incorporate simple drama/ puppetry/crafts to extend the stories she tells to cover all ages. Lynne truly believes the power stories have and how they can change one's life. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynne-kirk-83182814/

Richard De Vilar  He was a member of MSU Sining Kambayoka which utilized the “bayok” storytelling in chants that developed its distinct theater form. His theater practice was further enhanced as a member of the Kaliwat Performing Artists Collective that used theater and cultural action as tools for community development. Richard was a curator of Museo Dabawenyo and earned a degree of Masters in Anthropology from the Ateneo de Davao University. These provided a dynamic foundation of Richard as a . storyteller. He has performed in several storytelling festivals. Now, Richard is Butuan City’s Culture, Heritage and Arts Officer.

Lavanya Prasad is an Electrical Engineer turned professional storyteller who believes she makes better and long lasting connections through stories than electrical wires. Her organization - Tale’scope has sessions that are always filled with music and movement. www.facebook.com/Taleescope Mail : [email protected] Youtube Channel :Talescope Bangalore

GUESTS 

Kiran Shah was a social worker, Montessori Directress (in the U.S. and Japan) and early childhood trainer all over Asia before discovering storytelling 23 years ago. She has been involved in the revival of oral storytelling in Singapore and was the Founder President of the Storytelling Association, Singapore in 2006. She moved to Australia in 2008 but continues to participate in various storytelling conferences and festivals in Asia. 

Simone Sales  is a young Filipina storyteller and storyteller. In 2014 she founded Mga Apo which comprises creators striving to keep the oral tradition alive. She believes everyone has a story to tell and that we must be cautious of the voices we may be neglecting or even overpowering with our own. She also believes that there is a time to tell your story, a time to listen to others' stories, and a time to actively shape the narratives. 

HOSTS 

Roger Jenkins is a Singaporean storyteller, a co-founder and Director of FEAST. He has narrated nine audiobooks for Storytel (including adult, youth and children’s fiction, sci-fi and non-fiction titles.) He is a trained audio-describer who makes live performance accessible for vision-impaired audiences, and is an award-winning poet.  

Krupa Vinayagamoorthy is an Australian storyteller based in Singapore. She is also the consulting director of the Federation of Asian Storytellers ( FEAST ). She is bilingual and enjoys telling stories to young children and adults Tamil and English. She wears other hats as senior activity volunteer, administrator, interview coach, dancer and visual note taker. 

Story Wok Producers: The podcast is produced by 6 producers:

Krupa Vinayagamoorthy (Singapore)

Meher Gahi (India)

Ritu Vaish (India)

Rituparna Ghosh (India)

Roger Jenkins (Singapore)

Shereen Saif (Dubai)

Story Wok is produced by FEAST(Federation of Asian Storytellers ), (https://www.feast-story.org/ ). Our focus is on spreading Asian stories, celebrating colours from the Philippines in the east to Turkey in the west and the story telling communities that lie in between.

If you are interested in Podcasting, check out our Podcasting for Storytellerswebinar by Rituparna Ghosh at the FEAST store.

Write to us at: [email protected] / [email protected]