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10 Years of the Scottish Storytelling Centre: Elaine Keil

As well as a fantastic year-round programme, the Centre is the base for two annual festivals: TradFest Edinburgh, in April and May, and October’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival. Customer Services Administrator Elaine Keil shares some of her favourite memories from the last few years of SISF.

All my favourite memories of working at the SSC are connected to the Scottish International Storytelling Festival we hold each October. From transforming the Centre in to a fairy tale land with weird and wonderful props that Asta and I spent months collecting from charity shops, to Norwegian erotic tales (always a favourite to be retold at our staff parties), but most of all the friendships forged with guest storytellers and visitors from all over the world who become part of our community for 10 days.

My favourite SISF performance has to be Shonaleigh (pictured above) telling The Ruby Tree at the 2015 festival. It’s a fairy tale from the Jewish tradition in which Shonaleigh moved from story to story with interaction from the audience calling out “I want to hear more about that!” whenever a hint to a different branch of the story was mentioned. It was fascinating to watch her bring all the parts of the tale together – she is a truly captivating performer!

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2016 takes place from Fri 21 – Mon 31 Oct. Sign up to our mailing list to be kept up-to-date with the latest festival news.

Do you have a memory of the Scottish Storytelling Centre you’d like to share? Email sophie@scottishstorytellingcentre.com, or leave us a comment on our Facebook page.