From Jack and the Beanstalk to the Aboriginal Dreamtime, from the Greek Gods to Harry Potter, human beings love stories about magic. But sometimes we feel that a sense of wonder and enchantment is missing from our everyday lives. Vanessa explains how can we reconnect with that sense of magic and use it to transform the way we relate to the world we live in.
Vanessa Woolf specialises in stories for adults in urban environments – derelict housing estates, muddy foreshores, urban forests and midnight cemeteries. Her tales are stitched together from local histories, weird folklore, legend and myth. Her story projects for adults and children include residencies at the Southbank Centre, a ghostly podcast for the Guardian, a two-year project with UCL using fairytales to discuss women's sexual health (it won the Provost Award for public engagement) commissions for the British Academy of Arts & Sciences, the V&A Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts, Kensington Palace, Royal College of Music and many more in the UK and overseas.


This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx