Elaine Truckell

I grew up in the North West of England, female and working class, when men-only clubs proliferated the town. Anxious to leave, I auditioned and obtained a place at the prestigious National Council for Drama Training accredited Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art. After battling for funding with the local council, I trained for three years from 1987-1990 and I am proud to call myself an accomplished performer.

My life has seen me in many roles: static trapeze artiste (Spain, France, Southern Ireland and England), dramatherapist (1997-1999 University of York Postgraduate training), workshop facilitator, teacher (UK and China), script-writer/director, storyteller and belly-dancer... My clients are diverse and eclectic. I am comfortable in an academic institution, delivering formal education, and equally happy in a field with a mixed audience, especially if there is a lovely camp fire.

I self-published a novella during lockdown and this is now distributed throughout Cumbria and SW Scotland. I attend two local writing groups with published authors and I am working on my second novel. During lockdown I wrote and told stories for children suffering from pandemic-related anxieties through a series of story-telling workshops over Zoom. This was for Eden Family Support in Cumbria.