Tony Cranston is an author, teacher, storyteller and radio presenter. He has travelled the world collecting and telling stories. This month, he celebrates the sixth anniversary of his Talking Stories radio show
In 2017, I was asked by Ian Chambers – the producer and owner of award-winning East London Radio – to present a radio programme all about stories, poetry and the spoken word. And so Talking Stories was born, the first and only UK-based radio show dedicated to the art of storytelling. Six years later, 176 international storytellers have recounted 520 stories and 63 poets have presented 174 poems to a worldwide audience of over 43,000.
The remit of the programme is an equal split between London and the rest of the world. Among the authors and poets we have featured are Chris Ross from East Ham and Tom McColl from Stratford, as well as playwright Aine King from Walthamstow. They can be heard alongside Holocaust survivors, native American chiefs and many other storytellers, young and old, from every continent, many of whom have gone on to win awards around the world, and perhaps more importantly, publishing contracts.
A six-year-old from India, Shanaya Singh, was featured on our 47th show and has since achieved the record for being the world’s youngest storyteller and author, and is an ambassador for storytelling in India.
Talking Stories has hosted many international visitors at our studio in east London. South Korean sensation Seung Ah Kim – the country’s first professional contemporary storyteller – visited us during her worldwide tour and co-hosted the programme. Other guests have popped in from America, China and Canada.
Although the programme has an international audience, the Wanstead and Woodford areas are a potpourri of people, full of stories, and I want to air all those wonderful insights about living in east London and the memories of their forefathers. All those fabulous tales, myths and legends they grew up with, which introduces us to all the cultures and people we are and helps us understand one another. So, wherever you are reading, please do get in touch with your stories and poetry. We want to help you reach a wider audience.
In my years of travelling I have met many great storytellers and poets. Now, those stories and their tellers come to east London, and we send their stories back out to an ever-growing global and appreciative audience. Remember, as long as there have been people, there have been those who tell their story, and you can be one of them.
Storytelling is indeed a praiseworthy profession and the soul places storytellers high among sages and philosophers.
For more information on East London Radio and Talking Stories, visit eastlondonradio.org.uk
To contact Tony with your stories, email totocranston@hotmail.com
