Having trained in mime and theatre direction, and apprenticed as an image-maker with Welfare State, Ben Haggarty began telling stories in 1981 - becoming a central figure in the re-visioning of storytelling as a contemporary performing art in the UK. Today Ben is a world-class performance storyteller and much sought after teacher, whose work delights and subverts audiences across the English-speaking world. Ben has performed in venues ranging from caves to the Carnegie Hall, and has been commissioned by the likes of the Barbican, the British Museum, the ENO, the National Gallery, the Unicorn Theatre & the Guardian Hay Festival. He is the official storyteller for Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, devising shows for audiences of up to 10,000 people.

A regular voice on BBC Radio (Today, Midweek, A Good Read), he has undertaken research trips to Northern and Central India and in Central Asia; he was researcher and consultant for Jim Henson’s ‘Storyteller' series, and is author of the graphic novels ‘MeZolith. Ben founded the Crick Crack Club; co-founded The Company of Storytellers, Beyond the Border Festival, and most recently Pandvani 108. He is Honorary Professor of Storytelling at Berlin's University of the Arts and a Visiting Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford University.