Mike O'Connor

I am a storyteller and fiddle player with Welsh/English roots. I live in Padstow and have studied Cornish folklore extensively. I run a story club in Liskeard. I’m now one of the more senior storytellers in Britain! I have learned from Duncan Williamson, Betsy White, Ray Fisher and Taffy Thomas. (Duncan was a neighbour when I worked in Fife) With the harper and storyteller Barbara Griggs I have a long and dependable record of excellently received performances at FATE, BtB, Sidmouth, Whitby, Du Maurier and many other festivals. My past activities include the very successful ‘folk operas’ The Cry of Tin’, ‘Unsung Heroes’ and ‘Cornish Lads’. I have been folklore/vernacular music consultant for numerous films and for the recent Poldark series. For Poldark I wrote the songs for Eleanor Tomlinson. I’ve appeared on Radio 4, Radio 2 and CBeebies, and local radio in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. I’ve written four books of folk tales, all rather successful. My ‘Cornish Folk Tales’ is one of History Press’ best sellers and tells the reader about the world of travelling Droll-Tellers in 19th century Cornwall. I’ve written three children’s books and numerous academic works on vernacular music and folklore. My book ‘Seal Song’ won the 2023 Holyer an Gof Award for best children’s book. Our performances of the epic tales have been Imravoe, Tristan and Iseult, Loki, Gods and Men, Return to Lyonesse, Odysseus Dreaming and now the Prophecy of Merlin. They have all been very well received and are a draw for audiences. Gods and Men was a FATE solo commission. Return to Lyonesse won a British Award for Storytelling Excellence (like a ’storytelling BAFTA’). The recently launched Prophecy of Merlin has been an instant success.