Rowan believes that stories are the enchanted thread that binds the human soul. That the act of storytelling brings people together to enable them to inhabit a shared landscape of wonder. That as a creative art, storytelling can also be a powerful catalyst for personal and social change.

As a Scottish storyteller who is an advocate of vernacular Scots, she tells in the ‘mither tongue’. Her passion for the language includes a love for the rich lore and customs of her homeland. She likes to tell traditional folktales and strange stories of her own making to bring some much-needed magic into the ‘middle world of mankind’. To share stories of the natural world and the otherworld, of flora and fauna, of shapeshifting creatures and all manner of mythical beasties.

Rowan trained as a Community Artist, then as a Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator, followed by a degree in Community Education. She has worked with children, young people and adults in various communities over the last 30 years. She has experience of using a variety of creative mediums to raise awareness of societal issues.

In addition to providing storytelling sessions on any theme, she also offers bespoke workshops whose ingredients can include: art, crafts, creative writing, lore, stories and a great big dose of folk magic. Her workshops aim to be educational and empowering. During them, she will lead you into the depths of the dark forest, enable you to see the hidden folk, to run with the wild deer and take you swimming with selkies.

Rowan is also a practitioner of the healing arts, who uses a skin drum along with her stories to teach people about the cycles and seasons of nature, so they can have a deeper connection to the land below, the sea around, the sky above. She has told stories from community to international events and loves to tell under a blanket of stars or to the sound of crackling coals.

‘Rowan doesn’t just tell you a story. She leads you straight into the heart and soul of it. She transports you to a magical land, and when you return, reluctantly, you will feel as if you have just emerged from a time machine, still tasting the Scottish salt air on your tongue.’ (Jane Burns)