Margaret Copland - ' no one does heritage stories better ...'

                                                                ... a one-woman show at your time and place

 

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Margaret Copland, Storyteller

Te Puna Ora

A Brief History of my Storytelling Career

1992 - The Triskele Foundation
advertised for a storyteller to tell
Maori and Celtic stories.

The Ngai Tahu gave the venture the name Te Puna Ora.

A spring was built in the Botanic Gardens, to be fed by artesian water and celebrated by storytelling.

I auditioned and became the Te Puna Ora Storyteller

telling Maori myths and legends in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Maori legends in Christchurch Botanic Gardens

In 1997 I began creating and telling historical stories.

Several tour companies "discovered" the appeal of my "Immigrants" programme. This is a one hour programme featuring Sarah Stokes who came on the Randolph in 1850 and Rosalia Gierszewski who came on the Friedeburg in 1972. These two women tell stories of European settlement in Christchurch,

"The Immigrants" became my most popular programme finding a ready market with tourists, schools and locals.

New characters and stories followed.

In 2000, 2002, and 2004 I was invited to Glistening Waters New Zealand International Festival, first as a teller for the "Portrait of New Zealand" section and then one of the main featured tellers in the festival.

In 2002 I was invited to America to be a featured teller in the Corn Island Storytelling Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. That was followed by a tour of schools, libraries and smaller festivals in the States in 2002 and again in 2003.

Through these festivals I enjoyed the opportunity to share a stage with top American tellers such as Ed Stivender, Heather Forest, David Novak, Bil Lepp, Izzy Toonski and many others.

In 2004 I was commissioned to create stories for New Zealand Sesqui-centennial celebrations in Taita (Lower Hutt, Wellington) and Masterton.

In 2007 I was commissioned to tell the story of Carterton for their sesqui-centennary.

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