Telling tales - Ruth Hatfield

I'm not doing much writing at the moment, or even much thinking about writing. The time for it just isn't available. The little voice of frustration in my head says 'Make time!', but the little voice of reason says 'Don't worry, this just happens sometimes'.  And I'm not downcast - the best encounter I've had with stories this month hasn't come from reading or writing books at all, but from listening to a real live storyteller. A couple of no-effort hours, a single evening, and I feel my mind as alive with imaginary (and real) worlds as if I'd spent days reading epic novels or weeks digging through my own subconscious.

Even with the rise in popularity of audiobooks, listening to stories told out loud still doesn't really seem to be a major part of entertainment for grown-ups in our culture. Sure, it does go on (maybe increasingly so), but when you think about how much we read stories to children and how much they enjoy it, it seems a shame that there isn't more of it about for all ages.

I went to see the professional storyteller, Hugh Lupton, doing an evening based around Arthur Ransome, looking at his work gathering Russian folk tales and then his incredible adventures escaping from Russia in 1919. I've seen Lupton several times before (most notably telling Beowulf while a percussionist did sound effects on various instruments including a large jawbone), and it always feels like a huge privilege, sitting back and relaxing while a person stands and tells you a story. It's terrific fun, too.

In this case, Lupton did actually know Arthur Ransome (Ransome was his great uncle), but having seen him also tell stories based around John Clare and Robin Hood, I don't think it makes much difference - a good storyteller has such a personal connection with his or her story, no matter who it features, that the story is always just as alive as they are, and just as alive as you, the listener. The storyteller's imagination is as vivid as any writer's - even if they are retelling others' stories, they must need to see them in huge detail in order to bring them to life. Phrases and images stay in my mind long after that evening of telling - the mark of a good story, told in a manner personal and intimate enough to go straight into my subconscious mind and lodge there.

As an afterword, I bought a copy of Old Peter's Russian Tales - those Russian folk tales collected by Ransome - and began to read them. I'm very late in coming to the folk tale party, but I have to agree with those who claim that Russian folk tale culture is the finest in the world - in my mind, they're streets ahead of any I've heard over here. Colourful and comforting enough for any adult, gory and ruthless enough for any child, they're full of twists and surprises and people who get what they deserve at the end, but not necessarily what you think they might deserve at the beginning. What's more, they're short and fast and fantastic fun, absolutely perfect for those occasions when you haven't much time to write or indeed think about anything much at length...