Sandra Agard
{{short description|British storyteller, writer, literary consultant and cultural historian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| honorific_suffix = Hon. FRSL
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| birth_place = Hackney, London, England
| nationality = British
| occupation = Storyteller, writer, literary consultant and cultural historian
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| awards = Benson Medal (2022)
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}}
Sandra Agard Hon. FRSL is a British storyteller, writer, literary consultant and cultural historian. She is a published author of short stories and poetry, and for more than 40 years has performed her work, including plays, within the UK as well as internationally. She has worked in libraries as a literature development officer, as well as in art galleries and with community groups in many other settings. In 2022, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) and was the recipient of the RSL's Benson Medal.{{cite web|url=https://rsliterature.org/fellow/sandra-agard/|title=Sandra Agard|access-date=16 July 2022}}
Biography
Sandra A. Agard was born in Hackney, London, to Guyanese parents who had travelled to the UK in the early 1950s.{{cite web|url=https://www.eugeniasestini.com/post/in-conversation-with-sandra-agard|title=In Conversation with Sandra Agard|first=Eugenia|last=Sestini|date=18 December 2019|access-date=16 July 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/americas/2021/05/sandra-agard-an-ode-to-ridley-road.html|title=Sandra Agard: An Ode to Ridley Road|website=Americas and Oceania Collections Blog|publisher=British Library|date=20 May 2021|access-date=16 July 2022}}
In a career spanning 40 years, she has been a professional storyteller, author, tutor, playwright, literary consultant, editor and cultural historian, working in educational, cultural institutions, organisations and literary festivals throughout the UK and internationally, including in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/RSL-Announces-60-New-Fellows-and-Honorary-Fellows-For-2022-20220712|title=RSL Announces 60 New Fellows and Honorary Fellows For 2022|website=Broadway World|first=Stephi|last=Wild|date=12 July 2022|access-date=16 July 2022}} Her plays have been performed at such venues as the Royal Court Young People's Theatre, the Polka Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith and The Drill Hall in London.{{cite web|url=https://arachnepress.com/writers/guest-editors/sandra-a-agard/|title=Sandra A Agard|date=19 December 2020 |publisher=Arachne Press|access-date=16 July 2022}} Publications where her short stories have appeared include Tales, Myths and Legends, Time for Telling and in Malorie Blackman's anthology Unheard Voices.{{cite web|url=https://littletiger.co.uk/author-illustrator/sandra-a-agard|title=Sandra A. Agard|website=Little Tiger|access-date=16 July 2022}}
Her storytelling is characteristically "steeped in African Caribbean oral traditions",{{cite web|url=https://prhinternationalsales.com/author/?authorid=2203295|title=Sandra A. Agard|publisher=Penguin Random House}} and she is best known for her popular interactive stories with children, through which she encourages them to become involved, explaining the inspiration behind the stories.{{cite web|url= https://www.kcs.org.uk/senior-school/news/the-power-of-stories-with-sandra-agard|title=The Power of Stories with Sandra Agard|website=King's College School, Wimbledon|date=3 March 2020|access-date=16 July 2021}} Her recently published work includes the 2019 children's book Harriet Tubman: A Journey to Freedom.{{cite web|url=https://princeofpeckham.co.uk/listings/sandra-agard-book-launch-harriet-tubman-journey-freedom/|title=Harriet Tubman: A Journey to Freedom BOOK LAUNCH|date=8 October 2019|access-date=16 July 2022}}
Agard was Centenary Storyteller in Resident at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre,{{cite web|url=https://www.roalddahl.com/blog/2016/august/roald-dahl-day-in-great-missenden|title=Roald Dahl Day in Great Missenden|date=25 August 2016|access-date=16 July 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/listings/region/haringey/collage-kids-sandra-agard-telling-tales/|title=Collage Kids: Sandra Agard Telling Tales|website=Black History Month|date=28 May 2022|access-date=16 July 2022}} and her other previous employment includes various engagements with organisations such as Southwark and Lewisham Libraries in south-east London,{{cite web|url=http://dev.storymuseum.org.uk/whats_on/world-tales-sandra-agard-2/|title=World Tales with Sandra Agard|website=The Story Museum|date=3 August 2017|access-date=16 July 2022}} and the Ministry of Stories.{{cite web|url=https://ministryofstories.org/people/sandra-agard-2/|title=Sandra A. Agard|website=Ministry of Stories|date=22 June 2020|access-date=16 July 2022}} She is currently a Learning Facilitator for Schools at The British Library.
In 2022, Agard was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL). She was also awarded the RSL's Benson Medal, which honours a whole career of service to literature.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/12/adjoa-andoh-russell-t-davies-and-michaela-coel-elected-to-royal-society-of-literature|title=Adjoa Andoh, Russell T Davies and Michaela Coel elected to Royal Society of Literature|first=Sarah|last=Shaffi|author2=Lucy Knight|date=12 July 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.writingafrica.com/the-uks-royal-society-of-literature-fellows-2022-announced/|title=The UK's Royal Society of Literature Fellows 2022 Announced|website=Writing Africa|first=James|last=Murua|author-link=James Murua|date=13 July 2022|access-date=11 May 2024}}
Bibliography
- Trailblazers: Harriet Tubman, Stripes Publishing, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1788952224}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6qvTfUfHuA "Storytelling with Sandra Agard - Grimms Remix"], The Story Museum.
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnoT7LT7fg0 "Rumplestiltskin with Sandra Agard"], The Story Museum.
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y2_Tjqatx0 "Concertina book by Sandra Agard and Allen Fatimaharan"], The British Library.
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{{Authority control}}
Category:21st-century British women writers
Category:21st-century British dramatists and playwrights
Category:Black British women writers
Category:Black British writers
Category:British women children's writers
Category:English people of Guyanese descent