Jan Blake has  been a storyteller for twenty-three years, touring, performing and  inspiring others to get up and tell a tale or two themselves.

In her own words: “Despite what might sound an obvious job description – storyteller – there’s often confusion about what that actually means. When I tell people I’m a professional storyteller and that I perform stories for a living, I often hear, ‘What does a storyteller do then?’ So let’s explore the what, why, and how of storytelling; and in turn use this to discover how stories and storytelling can enhance your own experience and enjoyment of performing in the classroom.”

Jan was everywhere at ISTEK, telling stories not just in her plenary but also when we were out visiting Istanbul. See Luke Meddings’ account of Istanbul on Ken Wilson’s blog.

Jan specialises in stories from Africa and the Caribbean and  has a reputation for dynamic, witty, and exciting storytelling. In addition to performing at all the major storytelling festivals, she works regulary with the British Council, leads storytelling masterclasses for emerging storytellers, gives workshops for teachers and school children, and devises teaching tools through storytelling for English language teaching.

Jan is not an ELT person but it was an inspired choice to invite her to be the opening Plenary speaker at ISTEK. She set the tone for the rest of the conference and joined in all the events including a great performance at the Karaoke night. Thanks Jan for coming and really setting the conference alight with your incredible storytelling ability.