Work since last time…
It’s a long time since I posted anything here but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. For a start I’ve got a new web site – but you know that because you’re looking at it! It means that I can now update it myself and I will be doing so much more often so come back and have a look regularly. A thousand thanks to Jim Hancock who ran the old one for me for donkey’s years and for Rhys at High Heel Creative for all his work on this one.
So, after that long pause I’ll catch you up on the past few months…
I have been plugging and producing Facts & Fiction which goes from strength to strength. (If you don’t know it have a browse through those pages here.) It was good to have a stall at Festival at the Edge where I could meet current and future subscribers and put a few faces to names.
Two books: in the Shop there is a new book for which I was very pleased to write a chapter: An Introduction to Storytelling (https://petecastle.co.uk/product/introduction-to-storytelling/) It has pieces by many of the top names on the storytelling scene and covers many aspects of the art. If you are at all interested in storytelling then you should have it!
There is also Katherine Soutar’s book of cover illustrations – Painting the Tales. She has done the cover designs for the whole of The History Press’ Folk Tales series (well over 100 books!) and in this book she has chosen a selection of them to show and write about – how she chose and made the images, the difficulties and pleasures involved etc. Amongst them is my Where Dragons Soar with it’s picture of Reynardine outside Whitby Abbey – a really powerful image which she says she had to keep covered up because it made her uncomfortable! I haven’t a stock of these so get it direct from THP.
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/painting-the-tales/9780750986014/
Living Tradition magazine published a piece by me about the history of the Derby Ram which I suggested could be related to similar rituals involving men dressing up as large animals found all over Europe. Perhaps it is a relic of pre-historic religion… I half expected for mumming experts to ridicule the idea but I’ve had a lot of responses and all very positive.
On the ‘live’ front I have also been quite busy. The highlight was a two-handed performance at Number 28 in Belper with friend and fellow storyteller Nicky Rafferty. There are two videos from the show on my You Tube channel. https://petecastle.co.uk/pete-castle/pete-castle-on-youtube/
Over the next few months I have some interesting performances scheduled including Tenterden Folk Festival and a couple of events for Discovery Days. I will write separate posts about those nearer the time.
