BIOGRAPHY

Michael was born and raised in Canada but has lived and worked in Scotland for nearly 25 years. As a child he heard the animal tales of Thornton Burgess from his Nana; from his Grandpa—a working jazz musician—an assortment of tall tales, anecdotes and jokes.

Michael’s working career has taken him from the underground mines of Northern Ontario to the towers of academia in Scotland with numerous stops along the way. In 1993 he was awarded a PhD in English Literature, a subject he went on to teach for more than 15 years. And, in 2001, he earned an Advanced Diploma in Local History from Oxford University. Throughout, he’s come to appreciate the stories and history of the ordinary as well as the extraordinary people and enjoys helping others to tell their story as well as remembering those from the recent and distant past.

In addition to his numerous storytelling performances and workshops in schools and other centres, Michael has recently contributed to The Amazing Travelling Friendship Fair, an animated children's series from Mugisha Productions in Canada, which focuses on creative conflict management for young children. He also offers peace education through his work with Unipaz-UK's award-winning Juniper Peace Education Programme for Schools.

In 2009, Michael travelled to Israel and Palestine as part of the 'Healing Words' programme at Emerson College's School for Storytelling. In addition to performing at the 'Healing Words' festival in Galilee at the end of May, Michael worked alongside groups of Arabs and Jews in their peacemaking and community work.

The following year Michael was also appointed as Storyteller-in-Residence at MUSEartspace Gallery in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in Canada. He worked with children, teens and adults.

In October 2010, Michael was commissioned by the Scottish Storytelling Centre to write and perform a series of stories commemorating the International Storytelling Festival's 'Eastern Routes' theme. He performed these stories again in Prince Edward Island in December.

See Scottish Storytelling Centre www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk