Applications are now live for the Andy Hunter Storytelling Bursaries 2026
- Five bursaries, to the value of £1,500 each will be awarded, applications close Friday 26 June – Find Out More!
- Scottish International Storytelling Festival (21 to 31 Oct 2026), confirms programme launch date as Tuesday, 15 September.
To mark World Environment Day (Friday 5 June), the next round of storytelling bursaries, set up to commemorate the life and work of storyteller Andy Hunter, who was a true advocate for our natural environment, is now open.
Andy Hunter, who died in 2015, was passionate about the Earth, its people and live oral storytelling. He was an avid cyclist and through his project Storybikes, he combined storytelling, sustainable travel and deep attention to place, encouraging people to slow down, listen, and connect more meaningfully with landscapes, communities and one another.
His Bursary fund, set up by his wife Anne in 2018, is administered by TRACS (Traditional Arts and Crafts Scotland) and five awards of £1,500 each will be made this year. The fund aims to nurture the work of storytellers whose practice is rooted in place, sustainability, community, and the living tradition of oral storytelling. Since its inception, it has supported nearly many storytellers and new projects across Scotland including, storytelling walks for New Scots in Holyrood Park, projects working with disabled people, intergenerational cèilidhs in libraries and schools, foraging and rope-making workshops, nature-connected papercraft and storytelling installations, and sustainable storytelling journeys such as Ian Stephen’s sailing trip from Lewis to Iceland and the Faroes, which was shared with audiences during the 2025 Scottish International Storytelling Festival.
Speaking about her late husband, fellow storyteller Anne Hunter who has generously provided funding for the bursaries since 2018 said:
‘Andy believed in the power of storytelling to facilitate contemplation, attention and deep connections between people, place and the natural world. For me and Jacinta (Andy’s daughter) the bursary engenders a dynamic conversation with Andy’s core principles, facilitating projects and ideas that are always developing and often going beyond anything we, or he, might have imagined. I hope storytellers are encouraged to be audacious in their research and explorations, to share generously and continue to find meaningful ways to bring people together through story and our precious, fragile earth.’
This year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which returns from Wednesday 21 to Saturday 31 October, will also explore the rich relationships between storytelling and the natural environment under the theme ‘Bird and Beast’. Led by the Festival’s new Director Daniel Abercrombie, the festival programme will look at the traditional and contemporary ties between humans, birds and the animal world and will include ten pieces of new work supported by the festival’s open call; guest storytellers from Turkey, Italy, Ireland and North America amongst others; Scotland-wide storytelling events, talks, workshops, and exhibitions for children and adults; and the return of the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Words of the Wild nature writing competition.
The Scottish International Storytelling Festival is made possible thanks to continued support from Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding and the Scottish Government Expanded Festivals Fund. Full details of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival programme will be announced on Tuesday, 15 September.
To apply for one of the Andy Hunter Storytelling Bursaries and this year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival visit www.sisf.org.uk.
