User:Constantin1706/Michael Kerins

Michael Kerins — a Scottish-origined British writer and storyteller. Kerins was born in Glasgow in 1952. He has received a variety of different awards for his works inside and outside of his area.

Biography
Kerins was born in August of 1952 in a Scottish family in Glasgow. His father was blind, but the level of his oral communication abilities was considerable. It is believed that Michael took after his father in his talent of telling stories. Michael Kerins is the sixth generation of storytellers in his family. He has had the status of mentor and member of The Scottish Storytelling Forum since 1988. In 2009 and 2010 he was a chairman of Glasgow Storytellers as well.

He is also famous for being a founder or co-founder of various clubs and projects both in Scotland and worldwide. For example, such institutions as "Better Crack Club" (Glasgow’s oldest storytelling club) and "Even Better Crack Club" (Glasgow’s oldest storytelling club for children of all ages) were organised by him. Moreover, Kerins is the founder of a charity organisation named S.L.A.T.E Charity (Scotland Language Action Towards Education), in collaboration with Russian actor Nicholas Naumov they've set up "CEO Mother Tongue" in 2002 and international translation competition called "kerinsnaumov" in 2015.

In 2014 Michael Kerins founded 27 word microstories project "Lermontov 200" dedicated to 200th anniversary of Mikhail Lermontov, who had Scottish roots.

He is in the habit of referring to a quote by Walt Disney from the film "Saving Mr. Banks" to characterize storytelling: "George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again."

- Walt Disney

Personal life
Married to Marion (nee Fensom). The couple has two children: Naomi (a medical doctor) and Dominic (also a storyteller and musician).

Most notable works

 * "weetom and the bankrobbers"
 * "weetom and the new bed"
 * "The Varona and The Seagull"

Awards

 * 2004: W.E. Upjohn Humanitarian award
 * 2008: Scottish Storytelling Centre - Edinburgh winner Tall Tales Oscar
 * 2009: PharmaTimes Representative of the Year 2009 Awards Evening
 * 2010: Glasgow Herald - aye write Tall Tales Oscar
 * 2012: B.A.S.E. 2012 - Adult Male Winner

Links

 * Official website of S.L.A.T.E Charity