Biographical note

TOM PHILLIPS is a professional storyteller who aims to bring traditional stories to young and old. Born and raised in Leicestershire, Tom started working with children from a young age in many settings from scouting to football coaching. He completed a degree in Primary education in 2008 and spent several years teaching across the key stages. During this time he began storytelling, initially to children and then to adults. Whether telling stories to children in a school or adults at a heritage setting, folk tales are a constant. He has appeared on several podcasts discussing them and, in 2023, led a panel discussion about the importance of folk tales at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Alongside this, he has written many children’s stories, begun a novel aimed at 8–12-year-olds and writes articles for Folklore Thursday on various folk tales from around the world. He is the author of Leicestershire Folk Tales for Children and Forest Folk Tales for Children, both published by The History Press.