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Welcome to the longest running Storytelling centre of its kind. Since 1994, we continue to run courses and welcome people from all cultures, backgrounds, genders, ages and experience.
Storytelling Beyond Words
A modular Storytelling course to meet the challenges of these times.
at Peredur Centre, England
Since march 2026, Storytelling Beyond Words - our flagship three month course is offered in modular units (each unit is 2 weeks long) up to one month at a time. The full programme for those who take all the units can be completed over three years. It is also possible to take individual units at your own pace over a longer time frame. We warmly recommend that you take all of the units in order to benefit from the full range of skills and story types we cover.
Please keep reading to learn about the possible pathways for you to take if you wish to complete the training.
Modules of Year 1 will run again in September-October 2026
And Year 2 in February-March 2027 at Peredur Centre, England
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What makes a story work?
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Can words shift the world?
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What inner shift is asked of us to help this happen?
Spread over three years, this deep training in the art and craft of storytelling aims to prepare you to carry the spoken word and a lively imagination into your communities and places of work. Whether you wish through sharing stories to entertain, educate, counsel, inspire or advocate change; whether the stage, fire side, classroom, board room, or the bedside of a dying person is the context for your telling, this is our flagship training to develop a way of storytelling unique to your own voice and calling. Join us on a journey to light up your creativity and, through the surprising perspectives that this work offers, discover new aspects of who you are. This journey, both playful and profound, opens a path of development and transformation guided by humanity’s great shifters and shapers – Stories.
Long before television was ever imagined storytellers and bards, prophets and poets were called upon to tell their visions and, through a live encounter, provide images that could direct, entertain, provoke, heal and reconcile the communities in which they worked. As a storyteller any story that you craft will in turn craft you to be a fit instrument for its telling. We are, in fact, made of stories, some of which serve our individual and collective endeavours, others binding us to outmoded images. Imagination, therefore, will be our key to the invisible realm from which all stories and everything new and possible can be born. Coupled with clear intention, this essential human faculty will help us connect to those creative forces which are ever available to us. The future is shaped, for good or ill, by the stories we believe and follow.
When an old story cracks and falls apart we know a new one is emerging. The story of our time calls for heightened awareness. ‘Listen to life’s movement’, it says... 'where it wants to flow, then risk following its currents'. The oral tradition is humming with fine and foolish wisdoms, and we invite you to join our enquiry into how what is sounding there can help the birthing of the new paradigm so much needed in our times.
As the pace of modern life accelerates, luring us away from the rhythms and patterns of nature, we intend in the various modules of this course to mindfully slow down. From this place of presence and connection a new language can arise. The art of deep listening is the foundation for the initiation of the storyteller, and as we practice it we will begin to develop ways to ‘speak into action’ the changes we wish for when faced by 21st century challenges.
In our work we mean to cultivate truthful, mindful and courageous speaking, sharing our passions, questions, vulnerabilities and aspirations. Walking this path you will be encouraged to align with your inner strengths and with the quest you brought with you into the world, remembering, of course, to have fun along the way.
Structure of the Course:
You can sign up to any unit or take the entire programme at your own pace. Please get in touch if you are new to storytelling and are unsure where to begin.
1st year units:
Once Upon a Lifetime - Weaving biographical storytelling and traditional wondertales into one performance. With Roi Gal-Or.
Sunday 20th, September - Friday 2nd, October 2026
Folktales in Troubled Times - A fresh and critical view of the wisdom of folktales.
With Karmit Even Zur and Roi Gal-Or.
Monday 12th - Friday 23rd October 2026
2nd year units:
The Storyteller´s Embodied Voice - In depth work with voice and movement. With Olivia Olsen and Karmit Even Zur
Monday 22nd Feb - Friday 5th March, 2027
MythOS - The codex of Storyverse - Exploring Mythology and how ancient myths speak to contemporary audiences. With Roi Gal-Or.
Monday 8th - Friday 19th March, 2027
3rd year unit:
An online component & in person applied storytelling project - Creating a storytelling performance or workshop.
March 2028
Themes covered throughout the three years:
The Oral Tradition: Building a repertoire as a storyteller, working with folk tales, wonder tales and ancient myths. As a group, we will explore the relationship between stories old and new, their relevance to our life, and which of them are asking to be told today.
The Skills of the Storyteller: In-depth work on story structure, voice, gesture, movement, audience awareness, spontaneity and improvisation, authenticity and presence.
Autobiographical Storytelling: Working with meaningful experiences of your life and shaping them into stories to inspire individuals and communities and to nourish the earth.
Visionary activism: Imagination, activated through work with stories, rituals, performance art and games, will enhance your potential to inspire, foster hope, and bring into public consciousness the new narratives and visions that you wish to share.
Coaching: In a supportive atmosphere with individual tutorials, feedback and coaching you will develop your own style of telling and find what you wish to serve with your unique voice and stories.
Social action: Learning to use story, strategy and structure to put your vision into action. Developing ‘out of the box’ solutions to challenges you wish to address.
Deep listening in nature: Practices to tune in to the inter-relationships between all living systems, and our evolving planet as a conscious entity full of life and stories.
Performances: Throughout the course there will be plenty of scope for practicing your stories, including weekly opportunities to share them with a variety of audiences.
Self study: Participants are expected to put in a certain amount of work to get the most out of the course. This includes reading stories to find the ones they wish to work with and doing the required assignments over the weekends and breaks.
During the sessions we include singing, movement, games and improvisation, connecting with nature, journalling and more.
Please Note:
During this training, we shall be working with traditional and biographical stories, all of which may serve as mirrors and doors to soul searching themes, and that may at times be challenging. Whilst the teachers will support all participants during the workshop, this is not a therapy group and that participants are ultimately responsible for their own process and integration of the experience.
Over the years we have worked with people from a wide range of backgrounds, nationalities, ages and professions. The working language is English.
Accommodation and meals:
Please note the course location is no longer Emerson College but is now at Peredur centre
There is a limited number of rooms available in the student hostel on the Peredur centre where we run the course. (West Hoathly Road, East Grinstead West Sussex, RH19 4NF)
They are single rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. Each room contains a bed, wardrobe, desk, chair and washbasin. Peredur provides bedding and a towel. The cost is £35/night, for stays of longer than 7 nights the rate reduces to £28.57/night. Peredur operates on a strictly first-come first-served basis so it is advisable to book the room early. Peredur does not require a deposit, payment is due on arrival.
There is also a space in the car park for 1-2 self-contained campervans, at the rate of £10/person/night.
To reserve a room please contact info@peredurcentre.org.uk or call +44 (0)1342 312527
Alternatively here is a list of friendly local B&B and Self Catering accommodation.
Please note that this course is self-catering.
An option for a light lunch may be available if enough participants are interested. There is a pub serving food 5 minutes walk away from the venue and a well stocked corner shop.The nearest train station is in East Grinstead and is just over a mile away. The town also has plenty of restaurants, supermarkets and a Travelodge. The village of Forest Row is only 4 miles away with good accommodation options, three supermarkets, whole food shops, cafes and restaurants. If you have a car, basic accommodation in Forest Row can also be booked as a visiting guest at Emerson College, where we used to run our storytelling courses for over 30 years before moving to Peredur centre in East Grinstead.
