Ameen Haque is the founder of the India-based storytelling company The Storywallahs. Ameen uses Dastaan – a long-form storytelling in rich, poetic language that is historically told over many days in a traditional mix of Urdu and Hindi. For his Dastaan workshop at the Singapore International Storytelling Festival, Ameen has not only translated traditional Dastaan stories, he has also adapted new stories for performance, including his own poems, stories in verse from other poets, and new texts.
Annaliza Bakri
Full biography
Annaliza Bakri is an educator and translator. Her passion for the arts is depicted through her contributions in the Malay literary scene. Her strong aura, passion and presence in advocating Malay literature and culture is unmistakable. She was the language editor for the first edition of the socio-religious journal, TAFKIR. In 2011, she represented Singapore in World Universities Peace Invitational Debate (WUPID) as an adjudicator, and in 2012, she was Singapore’s representative in MABBIM Seminar held in Brunei Darussalam.
Cyril Wong
Full biography
Cyril Wong is the author of several poetry collections, including the Singapore Literature Prize-winning book, Unmarked Treasure. He has been invited to speak and read at festivals across the world, including the Edinburgh International Book Festival and both the Sydney and Melbourne Writers Festivals. Cyril is also a recipient of the National Arts Council's Young Artist Award for Literature (2005) and a renegade countertenor.
Together with Annaliza Bakri, Kamini Ramachandran and Verena Tay, Cyril will present Asian Stories, showcasing adapted Singapore literary works.
Davide Bardi
Full biography Davide is an actor and storyteller who enriches his performance with singing and musical accompaniment. He tells traditional stories of his home region Maremma in Tuscany, including a performance of When the Libeccio Wind Blows, where he blends the true story of the brigand Domenico Tiburzi with local folk tales and legends. Besides performing Italian folktales as part of the International Storytellers Showcases, Davide will also enrich various performances by providing live music accompaniment.
Kamini Ramachandran
Full biography
Artistic Director for the Singapore International Storytelling Festival, co-founded MoonShadow Stories more than a decade ago. She is a founding member and four-term President (2008 - 2012) of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) and the Vice-President (2012 - current). Kamini has been a featured storyteller in various international festivals including the Alden Biesen International Storytelling Festival in Belgium, the Rome International Storytelling Festival, Festival at the Edge in the UK, and the inaugural Chennai Storytelling Festival.
She is currently pursuing her masters degree in MA Artist Educator at LASALLE – Goldsmith’s.
Passionate and talented, she is one of today’s most unique voices in storytelling.
Katrice will be presenting workshops on the use of stories in various settings and several performances with a highly animated session for children aged 4 to 8, Once Upon a Little Time.
Kiran Singh Sirah
Full biography
Executive Director of the International Storytelling Center (USA), Kiran, is also an artist, curator, and teacher. As a folklorist, his interests lie in the power of human creativity, arts, stories and social justice, and the notion of a truly multicultural society.
Through arts-led projects, Kiran has created a number of conflict resolution initiatives exploring issues of religious, ethnic, and sectarian conflicts and has tackled issues like poverty, gang violence, modern-day slavery. He will present the keynote at the Festival.
Michael Harvey
Full biography
Michael Harvey is in the forefront of the storytelling revival in the UK. He has received many awards and commissions including the British Awards for Storytelling Excellence award for best adaptation of a classic oral story and a Major Creative Wales Award, the highest award that can be made to an individual artist in Wales. Michael will be presenting, Look, No Book!, a straight forward programme that uses the oral retelling of narratives to help improve literacy skills.
Mochamad Ariyo Faridh Zidni
Full biography
Director of Indonesia Storytelling Festival, Ariyo Zidni, also known as ‘Kak aio’, is a storytelling coach, teacher, trainer and a lecturer who teaches classes on storytelling at the University of Indonesia. Drawn to the social healing aspect of storytelling, Ariyo Zidni began telling stories in 1999 and has participated in trauma healing storytelling in Jakarta, Aceh, Bantul Jogja, Pangandaran, Jogjakarta, North Sumatra, and other social storytelling events at schools, orphanages, and libraries.
Full biography
Founder of Raccontamiunastoria and trained Shakespearean actress and storyteller, Paola Balbi, is considered the pioneer of the Storytelling Renaissance in Italy. Skilled in voice and body language, Paola will be presenting the Asian premiere of Angerona: The Secret Name of Rome which for her is an ultimate artistic experiment of linking her two greatest passions- storytelling and Shakespearean theatre- with a message she cares for, justice for women worldwide.
Seung Ah Kim
Full biography
Seung Ah Kim is the founder of Arirang Storytelling Concert and counts herself as Korea’s first professional storyteller. Inspired by the folktales her grandmother told her as a child, Seung Ah tells Korean folkstories in a dynamic and interactive way that is engaging for audiences of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities. Her performances combine traditional Korean folktales and mythology with contemporary stories from her own life.
Seung Ah together with Sunny Lee a geomungo performer and pansori singers In Hwan Im and You Sook Jung will also offer insights into the traditional Korean storytelling art form at the Festival through a workshop and several performances.
Verena Tay
Full biography A theatre practitioner for over 25 years and a storyteller for a decade, Verena Tay has published a short story collection, Spectre (2012), and three play collections. She aims to bring traditional myths/stories alive for modern audiences by creating vocal performances in her unique fashion, delighting both adults and children across Singapore and audiences in Australia, the US and Malaysia. A founding Professional Member and current President of the Storytelling Association (Singapore), Verena has successfully coached many people to improve their storytelling craft through various courses.
For more information about the festival and to find out more about the other SISF speakers, please visit the SISF website.
