“The storyteller’s job is to inspire and connect”
PROFESSIONAL storyteller Cath Little understands the inspirational power of her unusual job better than most.
It was a chance encounter with one of her kind which inspired her to leave a steady job as an English teacher and take the path of the self employed entertainer.
I met Cath at the Chapter Arts Centre, where she helps run the Cardiff Storytelling Circle, and she explained why her unusual job provides an important function for society.
“The storyteller’s job is to inspire and connect,” she said.
“If you listen to a storyteller and think, ‘That reminds me of a story I could tell’, then the storyteller has done their job.”
When Cath, 58, is not teaching classes she is busy sharing stories in schools, libraries, museums and cafes.
She creates new stories, tells some from ancient legend and adapts old stories for a modern audience – such as amplifying the voice of female protagonists in old tales.
Cath’s favourite stories to tell are from the Mabinogion, a collection of stories that were written in Welsh in the 12th and 13th centuries.
“Traditional stories which have been passed on for hundreds, if not thousands of years, connect us with the land and the people who lived here before us,” she said.
During her time as a teacher she incorporated storytelling into her English classes before working part-time as a storyteller – starting professionally in 2006.
Midway through our meeting Cath takes out a recorder and begins playing a tune in the middle of the cafe.
Music is one of the many ways in which she creates immersive experiences for her classes when coming up with stories.
Cath uses her teaching experience to spread storytelling skills around Cardiff in schools and community groups.
She runs weekly storytelling classes at the Oasis Cardiff in Splott, welcoming in refugees and asylum seekers to Cardiff.
“Listening to a story in the company of others connects us with all the people we are with. It is a powerful, shared experience,” she said.
In the summer Cath is performing at Festival at the Edge at Hopton Court in Shropshire, where there will be storytelling workshops, woodland walks and tales around the campfire.
She’ll also be performing at Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival, which returns in July 2023 at the Dinefwr estate in Carmarthenshire.
If you are interested in getting involved with storytelling in Cardiff you can go to the Storytellers Circle at the Chapter Arts Centre on the first Saturday of every month at 7pm.
