Bea Ferguson
Home address:
111 Craiglea Drive, Edinburgh, EH10 5PL, ScotlandTelephone:
0131 447 6562BRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesBiography:
Bea Ferguson is one of Scotland’s best-known storytellers and is the Chairperson of the national Scottish Storytelling Forum. She has been telling stories for more years than she cares to admit, to folk of all ages, from nursery children to senior citizens. Bea was always interested in stories and drama, and after studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, went on to work as a Stage Manager in many theatres, including the Royal Shakespeare Company and then for BBC television. Marriage and children (two now grown up daughters) unfortunately put an end to that and she then retrained as a children’s librarian.
Bea lives in Edinburgh and has told stories all over Scotland, in England, Ireland, America and Australia.
She is a very experienced trainer in storytelling and has led workshops over many years for teachers, librarians, parents and carers, adults interested in storytelling and for children. She is one of the senior tutors on the Contemporary Storytelling Course for adults, which was run in conjunction with Newbattle Abbey College in Midlothian.
About writer's work:
I am equally happy telling stories to adults or children, or helping others acquire the skills to tell stories themselves. I am passionate about stories and how they can improve children’s literacy and confidence levels.
Storytelling sessions with children are fun and very participative with lots of songs and rhymes. My aim is for them to be excited and enthralled by listening to stories but I encourage them to pass on the stories and in that way develop their own imagination and oral skills. I am particularly interested in how storytelling can help achieve the four capacities in the Curriculum for Excellence and motivate and inspire learners. Sessions for adults are less participative but are relaxed and informal with stories which make you laugh, cry, or in some way touch the emotion and the inner child The stories I tell are from Scotland and around the world.
Workshops aim to pass on the skills of oral storytelling. They are fun, interactive but non-threatening and use storytelling games and exercises. These can be delivered for adults or children.
Publications ‘Tales on the Tongue – Storytelling Voices in Scotland’. Editor for the Scottish Storytelling Centre. 2000 ISBN 0 86153 361 5
About writer's events and projects:
• In 2010 I ran a two month pilot project for Angus Region where, working closely with the class teacher of a P5-7 class in a rural school, we used oral storytelling to evaluate the effect on children’s literacy and confidence levels. The results were deemed to have ‘hit six pages of learning outcomes’ and the whole project was such a success that it is to be run again with a cluster group. I would be very interested to run similar projects for other schools or authorities.
• I am available to undertake storytelling sessions with children, adult or family audiences on a one-off basis or for longer periods or residencies.
• I run workshops for beginners or more experienced storytellers, which are interactive but fun and non-threatening. They involve techniques for finding, ‘learning’ and delivering a story and can, if appropriate, involve advice on how to use books more effectively. These can be short taster sessions, daylong workshops or longer-term projects covering several weeks. Workshops can be tailored to the individual group.
Links to other websites:
www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.ukLanguage:
EnglishAge groups:
0-4, 5-8, 9-12, Teens, Adults