Taking The Tradition On with Richard Hamilton, June 2023

Richard Hamilton is a journalist, broadcaster and author. He's worked for the BBC World Service for the past 25 years, including as a correspondent in Madagascar, South Africa and Morocco.
In Morocco, he encountered its beautiful, rich storytelling tradition and saw how close it was to literally dying out as the last generation of master storytellers aged without finding apprentices to pass on their art.
Richard worked with an interpreter to collect, record and publish 'The Last Storytellers', a tribute to the storytellers themselves and a record of the rich heritage they carried to save what he could for the future.
Ten years later, the future of storytelling in Morocco looks much more hopeful. A generation of young men and women have emerged to study with the masters, there is a biannual storytelling festival and the King has become the patron and there are plans and discussions afoot to reclaim the famous square, Jemaa El-fnaa, for the storytellers
Together we discuss shaping news into stories for radio and how traditional stories captivated a World Service journalist and led him to collect and curate those stories in print and in an online archive - 'The House of Stories'
Find out more about Richard and his archive at: www.richard-ha...
thehouseofstor...
Comments from our audience:
'Thanks, Richard, for being a conduit for the stories--it's so great that they've found young voices!'
'Thank you so much. A wonderful evening. Richard your journey is fascinating = a long way from Local Radio!'
'Thank you Amy and Richard. Loved listening tonight. A great one! x'