Jan Blake

Summary

Award-winning storyteller Jan Blake is is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest storytellers.

Of Jamaican heritage, Jan has performed in theatres & Storytelling & Spoken Word Festivals worldwide. Working with mythology & folktales from Africa, The Caribbean & The Arab regions, she uses words to weave worlds into existence, inviting audiences to immerse themselves in new landscapes and the human experiences of those people in her narratives.

During her 36 years as a professional storyteller Jan has gone on to work as Storyteller In Residence at: National Theatre, Royal Geographic Society, Natural History Museum and Southbank Centre. RSC & Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. She performs regularly with Apples & Snakes Poetry, The Crick Crack Club & spoken word innovators, Tongue Fu.

Jan enjoys working relationships with storytellers, producers & musicians world-wide and in 2011 became the first non-German to be awarded, The Thüringer Märchen Preis for devoting her life to storytelling.

With musicians Kouame & Raymond Sereba she created Arts Council funded, award winning ‘The Old Woman The Buffalo & the Lion of Manding, and most recently, ‘In the Winter Wood,’ for Polka Theatre.  Jan continues to innovate within the field, is the Artistic & Programme Director of The Akua Storytelling Project & A Body of Words Storytelling Programme.