Daniel Morden

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Daniel Morden is a master storyteller. He has travelled the world collecting and telling stories, from South Wales to Haiti. He has been storyteller in residence at both the Royal National Theatre and the Barbican Centre in London, and has adapted stories for the theatre, television and radio.

Daniel has always been a storyteller even as a child walking to and from school:

"I would make up a story, about myself, or Spiderman, or the Viking God Thor, or some strange character I had invented. When I reached school, if I hadn't finished the story, I would walk around the playground, muttering it under my breath. I had to know how the story ended."
Daniel Morden

Some of Daniel's favourite stories are those about the strange monsters of the Ancient Greek world, the heroes that battle them, and the gods that rule over them all. He and fellow storyteller Hugh Lupton have recreated these stories in their book The Adventures of Odysseus, which won an award for the most significant contribution to the public understanding of the classics in 2006. The Adventures of Achilles will be published this year and is a lyrical retelling of one of the most important works of literature. He also enjoys retelling traditional Welsh folktales and his collection Dark Tales from the Woods won the Tir na n-og Prize in 2007, for which his latest book Tree of Leaf and Flame is also shortlisted.

“Have you ever played Chinese Whispers?... The stories in this book don’t belong to me. I’m just one of the whisperers. I don’t know who started the game. I know that it began long ago, when birds would make their nests in old men’s beards. I don’t know if anything of the original whisper has survived. I do know that people don’t remember boring stories.”  
Daniel Morden, Weird Tales from the Storyteller

Books by Daniel Morden

So Hungry and Tuck Your Vest In, illustrated by Suzanne Carpenter (Pont Books) 
Dark Tales from the Woods, illustrated by Brett Breckon (Pont Books) 
Weird Tales from the Storyteller, illustrated by Jac Jones (Pont Books) 
Fearless (Barrington Stoke)  
Adventures of Odysseus with Hugh Lupton, illustrated by Christina Balit (Barefoot Books)
The Adventures of Achilles with Hugh Lupton, illustrated by Carole Henaff (Barefoot Books)
Tree of Leaf and Flame, illustrated by Brett Breckon (Pont Books)
Theseus and the Minotaur with Hugh Lupton, illustrated by Carole Henaff (Barefoot Books)
Demeter and Persephone with Hugh Lupton, illustrated by Carole Henaff (Barefoot Books)
Orpheus and Eurydice with Hugh Lupton, illustrated by Carole Henaff (Barefoot Books)

Praise for Dark Tales from the Woods

"Gruesome, fantastical, and hypnotic, Morden's stories show why the fairy world will never lose its power over our imaginations."
The Times

For more information about Daniel Morden please visit:

www.gomer.co.uk, www.barefoot-books.com, www.barringtonstoke.co.uk