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World Tales StoryBank
ISF has embarked on a project that has never been attempted or achieved before: the creation of a digital repository of the world’s stories and folklore. The World Tales Story Bank will be to the computer age what Aesop was to writing, and the Brothers Grimm to the age of printing.
The inspiration for this project comes from Idries Shah’s seminal collection of stories, World Tales. A best-seller when it was published in 1991, the richly illustrated book drew together traditional stories which have appeared ‘in all times, in all places’, transcending national boundaries. Building on this concept, the World Tales StoryBank will capitalise on the power of the internet to demonstrate how stories constitute a world heritage binding humanity with common narrative threads. Modelled on the great seed-banks in Svalbard and Kew Gardens, we will upload and store all of the world’s ancient stories. Access to this invaluable resource will be free. Through an interactive website, children and educators alike will be able to read and listen to tales drawn from across the ages and learn about the lands and cultures which nurtured them.