Joanna Gilar is a writer and storyteller based in Sussex and sometimes Prague. She has a PhD in fairy tales and eco-storytelling from the University of Chichester, and loves exploring the wild commonality of stories.

Joanna is visiting lecturer in young adult literature at the University of Roehampton. She is co-editor of The World Treasury of Fairy Tales and Folklore (Wellfleet Press, 2016), and has taught courses and workshops on fairy tales and storytelling since 2016. She is founder and director of StoryCommons CIC, a social enterprise dedicated to building inclusive community through story, with projects such as ‘Rewilding Cinderella’ a collective celebration of the diversity of Cinder stories across the world.

A teller of folk tales for all ages, Joanna is dedicated to celebrating the wonder of the ordinary world. Her performances have been described as ‘spell-binding,’ ‘breath-taking,’ ‘astonishing’ and ‘a gift,’ and she has performed across the UK and Europe, in locations from Italian castles to Bohemian mountains, Sussex forests to Scottish clifftops.

She can be found online at joannagilar.com, or on Instagram @joannagilar