# Taffy Thomas > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Taffy_Thomas > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Taffy_Thomas.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taffy_Thomas > Source revision: 1299428835 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{for|the jockey|Taffy Thomas (jockey)}} {{Infobox person | name = Taffy Thomas | image = File:Taffy-thomas-201108.png | occupation = Storyteller }} '''Taffy Thomas''', [MBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) is a [storyteller](/source/storytelling), based in [Grasmere](/source/Grasmere_(village)) in the [English](/source/England) [Lake District](/source/Lake_District). ==Biography== In September 2009, Thomas accepted the honorary position of the UK's first Laureate for Storytelling, which was officially launched on 30 January 2010 at the [British Library](/source/British_Library) as part of a series of national events for National Storytelling Week, for a period of two years. [Brian Patten](/source/Brian_Patten), [Michael Rosen](/source/Michael_Rosen_(author)), Pete Suchil Chand, Patsy Heap, Del Reid and Simon Thirsk are patrons and official guardians of the first laureate for storytelling.{{cite news |title= Taffy Thomas appointed first storytelling laureate|author= Alison Flood |newspaper= [The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |date= 2 November 2009|url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/02/taffy-thomas-storytellling-laureate}}{{cite news |title= Laureate to help storytelling live happily ever after |author= Mike Glover|newspaper= [The Independent](/source/The_Independent)|date= 1 November 2009|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/laureate-to-help-storytelling-live-happily-ever-after-1812920.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/laureate-to-help-storytelling-live-happily-ever-after-1812920.html |archive-date=2022-05-26 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title= Britain's first storytelling laureate named as Cumbrian Taffy Thomas|author= Aislinn Laing |newspaper=[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)|date= 1 November 2009|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6478957/Britains-first-storytelling-laureate-named-as-Cumbrian-Taffy-Thomas.html |accessdate= 21 April 2010}} Thomas trained as a Literature and Drama teacher at [Dudley College of Education](/source/Dudley_College), before teaching in [Wolverhampton](/source/Wolverhampton). While teaching, he also founded two companies to promote folk theatre and rural arts. Thomas fronted and performed in the ''Fabulous Salami Brothers'', the popular touring unit of ''Charivari'', while ''The Magic Lantern'' traveled Europe illustrating folk songs by use of shadow puppets. A stroke at the age of 36 brought another change in direction when he turned to [storytelling](/source/storytelling) as self-imposed [speech therapy](/source/speech_therapy). Now widely acknowledged as England's leading proponent in the art of traditional storytelling, Thomas boasts a repertoire of over 300 tales and elaborate 'lies' collected predominantly from oral sources and [folklore](/source/folklore). With so many stories in Thomas's head, fellow storyteller Giles Abbot once remarked "when Taffy goes it will be like a library burning down." In the 2001 [New Year Honours List](/source/New_Year_Honours_List), he was awarded the MBE for services to storytelling and charity, and later in the year performed a new collaboration for the [Blue Peter](/source/Blue_Peter) Prom at the [Royal Albert Hall](/source/Royal_Albert_Hall) in London. Combining the fields of education and entertainment, Thomas has toured nationally and internationally, appearing at the Settle Storytelling Festival,{{cite news|url=http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/leisure/8393557.Telling_tales_at_festival_debut/|title=Telling tales at festival debut|newspaper=[Craven Herald](/source/Craven_Herald)|accessdate=25 November 2018}} [Bergen](/source/Bergen) Arts Festival in [Norway](/source/Norway), the American [National Storytelling Festival](/source/National_Storytelling_Festival), and a stint as storyteller-in-residence for the programme of summer residencies at the National Center for Storytelling in [Jonesborough, Tennessee](/source/Jonesborough%2C_Tennessee) in 2006.{{Cite web |url=http://www.storytellingcenter.com/festival/festival.htm |title=National Storytelling Festival - International Storytelling Center |access-date=2008-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509122531/http://www.storytellingcenter.com/festival/festival.htm |archive-date=2008-05-09 |url-status=dead }} Thomas is currently artistic director of Tales in Trust, the Northern Centre for Storytelling, in Grasmere, and a patron of the Society for Storytelling. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.taffythomas.co.uk Taffy Thomas' Website] *[http://www.grasmere.com Grasmere] *{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2009/nov/06/michael-peel-taffy-thomas-david-vann|title=Michael Peel on Nigeria, storytelling with Taffy Thomas, David Vann on Legend of a Suicide|date=6 November 2009|accessdate=25 November 2018|newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Taffy}} Category:Living people Category:British storytellers Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Grasmere (village) Category:Year of birth missing (living people) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Taffy Thomas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taffy_Thomas) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taffy_Thomas?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.