Workshop: Starting With Stories With Alice Fernbank

Alice Fernbank is running a storytelling workshop at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Saturday 21 November, and it's one of those sessions that's actually meant for you to get stuck into. The Scottish Storytelling Forum is presenting it as a hands-on, practical, participatory introduction to live storytelling, so if you've ever thought about telling stories but weren't sure where to start, this is a good place to find your feet.

Fernbank has been part of the Scottish storytelling community for over a decade, and she's worked across a fair few different settings. She's appeared at school events, in theatres and at festivals like the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She's also taken her work abroad to festivals in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and more recently to the Palabras al Vuelo Festival on Lanzarote. Closer to home, she regularly leads story walks around Edinburgh, sharing the city's legends and histories with travellers, and has acted as mentor and story coach to many emerging storytellers.

Her approach is built on listening closely and responding with energising feedback to help a storyteller find their own unique, authentic expression. That's the part that makes this a workshop rather than a talk: it's about what you bring to the room, not just what you hear. The session is aimed at new and aspiring storytellers, so you don't need to have a polished act ready to go — it's more about getting started and figuring out how you want to tell your stories.

It runs from 10:30am at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High St, EH1 1SR, and goes on for five hours, so you'll have plenty of time to actually work through things rather than just skimming the surface. Tickets are £25, plus a handling fee of £1.25 per ticket, capped at four tickets per booking.