I’m delighted to be part of a dream-team with Shonaleigh, Amelia Armande and Joshua Crisp, creating opportunities for, and amazing work with, exceptional artists ready for a step up in their career. Shonaleigh and I were lucky to have mentors from living ancient oral traditions. We were welcomed by the storytelling scene and given a huge amount of support and opportunities from the storytelling community… it’s our turn to give back and support new exciting wordsmiths, giving them the chance to create and perform the excellent work they can and want to do. This is our third year running the Step Up commission – it’s a delight and privilege to be part of!

𝗜𝘁’s currently 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗰, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆...

What better time to announce The Step Up Commission 2024?!!

Are you ready??? Drumroll… Our Step Up Commission for 2024 is…

‘𝙈𝑶𝙉𝑺𝙏𝑹𝙊𝑼𝙎’ with Tom Juniper

What makes a monster? It all depends on who tells the tale… Tom gives mythological monsters a chance to tell their own stories, blending poetry and prose, giving the ‘Other’ a voice in all its forms…

Tom Juniper (he/they) is a performance poet based in Sheffield. Tom’s work often focuses on the experience of being other, whether that’s talking about being autistic or being part of the queer community, or about the Other as in strange and mysterious creatures from folklore traditions.

Tom’s collection of poems, Monstrous, gives creatures from various folklore traditions the chance to talk back to humans, air their grievances and give their side of the story.

Monstrous currently exists as a book of poems published by Allographic. Working with The Step Up Commission, he is going to grow these poems into a narrative of discovery and depth, epiphany and compassion and develop Monstrous into a fully realised vibrant live show.

The Step Up Commission gives wordsmiths an opportunity to step up to the next level in their career. We support them through mentorship and funding and the piece created will be showcased at House of The West Wind Festival, 6-8 September 2024 and Get A Word In Edgeways Festival, 11-13 October 2024.

The Step Up Commission is funded by House of the West Wind College of Storytelling and Get a Word In Edgeways Festival.