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Lesley O'Brien

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Contact: lesleyjug@gmail.com
Local authority: Glasgow City
Languages: English
Author type: Storyteller
Lesley O'Brien's headshot

Lesley O’Brien is a Storyteller, Singer and Creative Writing facilitator. Inspiring, magical and healing are words used to describe her sessions.   Lesley has pursued the use of storytelling as a tool for personal development and recovery, working in Women’s Aid refuges (since 1994) and in drug, alcohol and mental health support groups. Fuelled by her passion that creative words can stimulate good health, Lesley chaired Lapidus Scotland for many years and took part in organising  collaborative projects with festivals such as The Big Tent Festival, Falkland Palace Estate and the creation of The Poetry Tent and projects within The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.

In 2015 Lesley formed the band ‘Kittlin’ an all-female line up with fiddle, flute, Clarsach and guitar, combining traditional folktales with original songs and poems. Lesley has worked freelance on many projects, alongside, for example the NHS in Move On Up: Stories of Recovery from Addiction, the Glasgow Carers Forum and GAMH on the publication, I’m Here Too and with Glasgow Women’s Aid on a project that published A Way With Words, as well as with many schools, nurseries and community organisations.

Lesley was shortlisted in the Glasgow Women’s Library 2020 online poetry slam.

Websites featuring the author

Local authorities can visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events can deliver

Bibliotherapy; Panel event; Performance; Residency; Workshop; Chairing events

Audience can work with

Adult learners; Care-experienced people; Carers; English as an additional language (EAL); Outdoor learning; Adults with additional support needs; People experiencing mental health problems; People living with dementia; Reluctant readers; Vulnerable young people (under 18); Vulnerable adults; Vulnerable older people; Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts); Young people with additional support needs (under 18) (ASN/SEN)

Topics of work

Adventure; Ageing; Animals; Biography & memoir; Childhood; Class & society; Coasts, seas & oceans; Death, grief & bereavement; Drug addiction, alcoholism & substance abuse; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Family; Food; Friendship; Gender equality; Health including mental health & wellbeing; History; Loneliness & isolation; Love & romance; Music; Nature; Performance training; Violence & abuse

Age groups published for

Adults

Age groups can work with

6-8; 9-11; 12-14; 15-18; Adults

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+

Get involved

Find out how to get involved in our Live Literature programme.

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