Shonaleigh Cumbers (Eng)

Shonaleigh is one of Europe’s leading storytellers. Having learned the Drut’syla tradition from the age of four, she carries thousands of oral stories from the Jewish tradition and shares their magic, mystery and wisdom with audiences around the world.

She is an experienced and highly skilled performer, a passionate advocate for the development of storytelling as a cultural and educational tool, and an associate lecturer in the University of Derby’s Creative Writing department. She is also Artistic Director of the House of the West Wind: College of Storytelling.

Shonaleigh has performed at storytelling festivals and events in Europe, America and Australasia as well as working with acclaimed organisations including the BBC, Hull Truck Theatre and The International Conference of World Affairs. She is also a co-founder of the Step Up Commission, which offers mentoring, funds and support to an emerging wordsmith performer.

For many years, Shonaleigh has shared the techniques of the Drut’syla storytelling tradition with students from across the globe. However, she is probably the last carrier of this age-old tradition.

The Drut’syla repertoire comprises twelve interlinked cycles, each of several hundred tales. Training also involves a complex system of oral memorisation, visualisation and interpretation (midrash) of tales.

Shonaleigh has been active mainly as a professional storyteller to a secular public. By contrast with rabbinical and official Jewish narrative tradition, documentation of the oral Drut’syla tradition is sparse, and much about it remains obscure.

Simon Heywood (Eng)

Simon Heywood holds a PhD on contemporary storytelling from Sheffield University’s National Centre for English Cultural Tradition. He is the author of 'The Legend of Vortigern' (History Press, 2012) and 'South Yorkshire Folktales' (with Damien Barker, History Press 2014). He has toured nationally and internationally in live and contemporary storytelling, and created original commissions for Festival at the Edge and the Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival.

He won Best Collaboration at the 2012 British Awards for Storytelling Excellence, with Tim Ralphs. He won Best Documentary Award 2005 at the Strasbourg Film Festival for 'Contempt of Conscience,' with Joe Jenkins. He has published research and review articles, and prose fiction, poetry, and translations; edited the UK Society for Storytelling's quarterly magazine; contributed to a number of CDs; and given numerous conference papers and other academic presentations. His original songs and music have been covered by nationally and internationally acclaimed folk and traditional bands, including Albireo, Crucible and Melrose Quartet, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

He is currently engaged in original research on modern and historical Jewish storytelling and oral tradition. He teaches on the single and joint honours pathways in Creative and Professional Writing and is year and admissions tutor. His teaching is focused on the practical applications of traditional knowledge to creative thinking and problem-solving.