The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said, on September 4th ‘2012,
“Katrice Horsley explains that, as a child, she chose not to speak because she had problems forming words. As a result, she retreated into a world of imagination – creating internal narratives to help her feel safe. At five years old her stories began tumbling out but it wasn’t until she went to live in Ghana, where she saw communities being educated in real life skills via the medium of storytelling, that her own ‘spark’ moment occurred. Realising that stories are powerful and important tools she returned to the UK, where she has worked in schools and communities sharing illuminating stories ever since.” (This clip is from SPARK)
In the prologue of the book Enrique Piana and his Half Suitcase (“The journey of the hero”) Katrice Horsley wrote:
“I, more than most perhaps, am aware of our ability to narrate a new story for ourselves. I was born into a family full-fat with love and stories. A family that was poor in terms of pocket but rich in terms of love and joy. However, as a child I struggled with speech, became silent within schools and new situations, withdrew into a land of fantasy where I had some control. The story narrated to me, about me, by others, was one of a child lacking confidence, a child unlikely to succeed, born into a dysfunctional family in an area of high social deprivation. The opposite of the story that started Kike’s journey. I believed this as a truth for many, many years, however I was lucky enough to have stories that enabled me to fantasise and dream myself into other me’s, into other ways of being. Stories provided me with a range of mirrors that offered me differing reflections of myself. It was while I was living in Ghana, in my early twenties, that I started to become aware of other narratives that existed, social narratives concerning beauty, intelligence, and ways of being. I suddenly realised what was true in one country, was not necessarily true in another. This was the start of my journey to narrate myself into my potential and ability. My story can always change as long as I comprehend I am the narrator of it. It is rather wonderful that the girl who struggled with speech and confidence ended up being the National Storyteller Laureate for Great Britain, the girl with no voice to tell her story became a woman who helped people find their voices and tell their stories. It is an honour to do such work and I am constantly humbled by the stories I hear…, Katrice