schools team

chris smith

Chris Smith PhD, who leads our research and outreach programmes, is a storyteller, musician and author. In 1994 Chris moved to Oxford and trained in performance storytelling with the internationally renowned storyteller, Ben Haggarty, and in therapeutic storytelling with Alida Gersie. Since then he has performed in festivals, museums, companies, prisons and many schools. Before becoming a storyteller Chris spent 15 years running charity and community projects in the Middle East, where he collected many of his stories.

pie corbett

Pie Corbett is the inspiration behind the Story Museum’s Storymaking Schools Programme, advising on programme design and running hugely popular teacher workshops. A former head teacher and English Inspector, Pie wrote the poetry objectives for the National Literacy Strategy and played a key role in emphasizing the importance of storytelling within its recent revision. Pie has written over 200 books for children and teachers, runs writing workshops, performs poetry and tells stories across the country. His inspirational in-service training sessions are highly valued for their insight and humour.

adam guillain

Adam is an experienced primary teacher and education consultant, practised in multicultural storytelling. He is particularly fond of Russian and West African stories and his performances include songs and music on the guitar or piano. Adam runs drama and creative writing workshops, as well as teaching insets. His books for children include the popular Bella Ballistica series. During 2006 he was writer-in-residence for the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden.

vergine gulbenkian

Vergine began working on the craft of telling traditional tales in 1991 after studying drama. Her interest led her to research the rich Armenian oral tradition and in 1994 she made a documentary video in 1994 with Richard Eayrs about the ashugh (epic singer) tradition followed by an MPhil (Oxford) thesis in 1996 about continuity in the craft of storytelling amongst diaspora Armenians. Vergine performs traditional tales and epics in venues that include the South Bank Centre, the Battersea Arts Centre, the British Museum, the Barbican Centre and in museums, schools and storytelling clubs around Britain. Her style is grounded, direct and simple, with folk songs an integral part. She has recently been combining science education with story, devising performances for Oxford University's Pitt Rivers, Natural History, and History of Science Museums.

val norman

Val is the story exhibitions curator. She has a degree in art and design as well as a diploma in teaching, and has been involved in various local community art projects. She has spent over 15 years working at Donnington Doorstep where she gained valuable experience of all the aspects of work in a busy family centre including outreach, research and presentation, playleading and family education.