New ZIPANG storytellers

The ZIPANG Mesopotamian storytellers first performed in 1997 at the Kufa Gallery in Bayswater, London. The original ZIPANG storytellers were Fran Hazelton, June Peters and Fiona Collins. Tara Jaff began performing as a musical ZIPANG storyteller in 2004.

ZIPANG storytellers are supported and promoted by the Enheduanna Society, a registered educational charity founded in 2002 to popularise the literature of ancient Iraq through the art of oral storytelling. The Enheduanna Society and the existing ZIPANG storytellers are keen to train new ZIPANG storytellers.

New ZIPANG storytellers can be:

1. people with a Mesopotamian family background keen to discover and develop their cultural heritage, in English or their mother-tongue,
2. scholars with expertise in Mesopotamian literature keen to acquire storytelling skills that can bring the ancient texts back to life,
3. experienced storytellers keen to add Mesopotamian stories to their storytelling repertoires.

Mohamad Tawfiq Ali
The Poor Citizen of Nippur
The Sumerian city of Nibru was renamed Nippur in Akkadian. Today its ruins are named Nuffar http://www.mathaba.net/0_mail.shtml?x=587295

Badia Obaid
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Professional actress Badia Obaid performed in a theatrical production of The Epic of Gilgamesh in Iraq. She is now working on a solo storytelling performance of The Epic of Gilgamesh in Arabic.

Ann Gilmartin
Inanna
Ann Gilmartin is an experienced storyteller and former organiser of the Camden Ceilidh Storytelling Club. She knows many |Irish and English stories but has yet to tell a Mesopotamian story. She hosted the American storyteller Diane Wolkstein, co-author of 'Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, her stories and hymns from Sumer' when Diane visited the UK to perform a programme of Inanna stories at the British Museum.

Laura Collins
details to follow
details to follow

Magali Krakenberger
details to follow
details to follow