Book James Spence
‘As Stanley said tae me, whin ye’re tellin folk a story, ye’re really takin thaim oan a journey. At times Ah like tae lead folk up the gairden path as weel.’
Over the years James has collected over 400 stories, meaning that he can cater for most occasions, including Halloween, Christmas, Burns’ Night, April Fools’ Day, and celebrating the passing seasons. He has Scottish folk tales, stories of auld Edinburgh, Arthurian tales, shaggy dog stories, parables, and even Moon-Landing stories. He frequently tells these wonderful stories in the guid Scots tongue of his upbringing. He is comfortable telling to all ages for intimate and large audiences. He also loves inspiring people’s creativity and imagination in his storytelling and writing workshops. He is also available for story walking tours of Edinburgh.
Though born in Edinburgh, James grew up in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders. He would listen enthralled at the family table to his father telling stories of local worthies. James now lives in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat, having moved to Edinburgh in 1982, becoming a student and great friend of the late Traveller storyteller Stanley Robertson, gathering many of his stories and wisdom in the process. James has been a professional storyteller since 2002 and has been invited to tell stories at weddings, birthdays, holiday camps, schools, nursing homes, theatres, festivals and sleeper trains from Edinburgh to Aberdeenshire.
As a stand-up comedian, James made his debut at the 2010 Glasgow Comedy Festival and at The Stand Comedy Club, in Edinburgh the same year. James is included in the Scottish Book Trust Author Database. He has had several books of poems published, gave Scots translation to the graphic novel, ‘Unco case o Dr Jekyll an Mr Hyde,’ and his collection ‘Scottish Borders Folk Tales’ was published in 2015.
‘Stories thrill, lift life out of the mundane, help us better understand and appreciate ourselves and others. Stories give us back our imagination and sense of fun. Stories make the world go round.’ (James Spence)
