Vanessa Woolf

I was invited to the Literature Festival in Dubai as a result of the shows that I did with Usborne Books at Wigtown Festival in 2024. George and I absolutely love sharing “Thats Not My…” fun around the world. Your sessions were just delightful. In fact, we attended two of your sessions as a family … Read more

No, that’s not me in the picture! This is a brilliant Space for Storytelling (SFS) end-of-year celebration hosted by Aaron Oliver and Emily Hanna. I dreamed up SFS in 2023 as a response to high venue costs, soaring cost of living and savage cuts to arts funding. I imagined a place where storytellers learn, workshop … Read more

(Not a religious post!)Fifteen years ago, I was leaving the tube when a random woman came up to me, took a deep breath and said “Excuse me. This is going to sound REALLY weird but God has given me a Bible verse for you.” Yup, that was weird. I stared at her. She blurted out … Read more

“As a professional Storyteller for over twenty years, the value of this storytelling festival cannot be emphasized enough. This is the ONLY storytelling festival in the entire Southwark. It ticks all the boxes for community cohesion, families together, literacy in play and games, culture, heritage, diversity, and most importantly professionalism and love.” Usifu Jalloh Watch … Read more

Gathering wild listeners, connecting with wonder. Pictures by Nicolas Laborie. Upcoming events here. Join our mailing list here. 2. Wandering: 3. Stories: 4. Songs 5. Folklore: 6. Now we are friends: 7. Lovely audience. Join our mailing list here.

Best career advice I was ever given. Everyone knows me as a storyteller, but back in the 1990s I was an electrician in lighting crews for movies. I was invariably the only woman and I was known as “The Girl spark” or “Tank Girl”. I felt very visible. I always had to win and keep … Read more

Coventry Building Society (CBS) have a mission to get more local kids reading for fun before they are 7 years old. They are generously providing thousands of books to local schools, but that was not enough for them. They wanted to be sure children actually READ the books. They knew (as we all do) it … Read more

You can watch the entire event on YouTube here. I told four stories about five women from the Beyond Notability academic database. Each story shone a creative light onto the womens lives, bringing in emotion and heart. I was working with (often) rather dry data! Each tale was an iceberg-tip, the culmination of months of … Read more

Beyond Notability (BN) is an academic project. Click here to find out more about it. I have been commissioned to devise & tell four stories about women from the BN database– including their contradictions and complexities. I was expected to undertake some of my own research as well as getting help from the BN team. … Read more

The stories of Jessie Mothersole and Elizabeth Hodgson. Beyond Notability (BN) is an academic project. Click here to find out more about it. I have been commissioned to devise & tell four stories about women from the BN database– including their contradictions and complexities. I was expected to undertake some of my own research as … Read more