Storynory

Hugh Fraser is Storynory’s editor and producer. He writes the original stories and adapts many of the myths and legends. He is also webmaster and oversees the development strategy for Storynory.

This is what Hugh says about himself:

“I split my time (and my brain) between writing and recording stories for Storynory, and doing technical stuff for websites. The English language is my first love, but I also have to cram in a good smattering of computer languages. Sometimes it all drives me a bit crazy.

These days I write almost all the stories for Storynory that aren’t actually by classic authors. I adapt stories from around the world – Greek Myths, Japanese legends, Arthurian romances, etc, and I write the stories about Prince Bertie, Katie the Witch, The Unpopular Beauty, Gladys, and so forth (if you listen to Storynory you will know who these characters are).

I have found that working with Natasha for four years, listening to her frank and very perceptive comments, and listening to her read my words back so beautifully, has been a great privilege. She’s helped my writing enormously. These days I am also very lucky to work with Elizabeth and Richard.

The weekly schedule for Storynory is demanding, but I always compare it to the early days of the Beatles. Long ago, I read that the Fab Four weren’t very Fab when they went to Hamburg before they were famous. In Germany, they had a regular slot playing in a club, night after night after night, and that’s how they became good. Storynory is a bit like that. We just keep going, keep to the schedule, make our mistakes, learn, and move on.

I’m also the sound-engineer. I record the narration and spend a surprisingly large amount of time editing and mastering the audio, finding a picture, and uploading the final result to the site and into iTunes. I aim to get this done every Sunday, but have been known to let the deadline slip to Monday lunchtime. At any rate, I do make sure we get our story out every week, come what may.

And then, believe it or not, I think. I think about where Storynory is going, and how we are going to get there. Right now I am thinking about more music, more pictures, more audio “theatre”, and all about that little buzz-word “app”.

I used to be a journalist. I spent some time in Russia (1990-1993) and am married to a Russian. I am planning a “magnum opus” for Storynory that will be set in Russia, but somehow I haven’t quite written it yet.

I have a small son and another on the way. I did ten years at the BBC World Service where I got my background in all things audio and started to write for the net. Now I try to get all that journalese out of my head and write proper English.

A very long time ago I did Classics at Oxford. Regular listeners to Storynory will recognise my interest in the ancient world.

But one thing many Storynory listeners won’t really know is my name. All the stories are written under the pen-name of “Bertie.”