~ Shonaleigh ~

Storyteller and Tradition-Bearer of Jewish Wonder Tales

Shonaleigh Cumbers, Jewish storyteller, to publish Garment for the Moon with Orkneyology Press.The storyteller (Image credit Antoinette Burchill)


A magical web of stories

Shonaleigh's magical and wise tales form a glorious web of traditional Jewish story cycles, passed down through the female line from grandmother to granddaughter.

The stories are, as Tom says, "amazing, spellbinding and moving ... a masterclass in how storytelling should be done."


Go to Shonaleigh's shop page


Bubbe's treasures

Shonaleigh's bubbe (grandmother), Edith Marks, carefully trained her granddaughter from a very young age to take into her body and soul the thousands of precious stories which Edith carried within herself, stories that had passed through many generations, ever sparkling like the treasures they are, undimmed even through the darkest days.

This is a remarkable feat of memory to begin with, but Edith's strength and dedication are fortunate for us all in another way: the Holocaust wiped out most of the Drut’sylas - the story keepers - along with the stories they lovingly cradled. We hope this is not so, but Shonaleigh might be the last Drut’syla living.


Garment for the Moon ShonaleighThe Clever Girl © Katherine Soutar 2026


A Garment for the Moon

Tom and I are incredibly honored to be chosen to partner with Shonaleigh, her husband Simon and the talented artist Katherine Soutar to bring these stories to the written page.

We're beginning with A Garment for the Moon, a collection of a few of her best-loved illustrated tales featuring strong and clever characters to inspire the reader. Shonaleigh has chosen the stories especially with young readers in mind. But these are wisdom tales, and being so, people of all ages will joyfully fall under their spell.


Garment-for-the-moon-angel.jpgThe Angel Lailah © Katherine Soutar 2026


A bit about some of Shonaleigh and her storytelling adventures ...

Shonaleigh is a drut’syla (storyteller) from the Yiddish oral tradition. She has worked as a storyteller within the secular world for the past 26 years across the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, United States and New Zealand.

She was shortlisted for the Arts Foundation Award in 2009 and was UK deputy national Storytelling Laureate 2010-12.

She performs from the Barbican to Burngreave Village Hall, from the Albert Hall to Albert Park, Unstone, international festivals in the US, New Zealand and Europe, and all points in between.

Shonaleigh's commissioned pieces include “The Tower Of Bagel,” the first commission from Festival at the Edge in 1998, and now available as a CD; “Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto;” “The Ruby Tree;” “The Golem;” “The Golden Labyrinth;” and other work. She has completed commissions for the British Library, the British Museum and Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival, and is a regular contributor to BBC arts programmes.

She is currently Artistic Director at House of the West Wind.

A Garment for the MoonAvram and the Fireflies © Katherine Soutar 2026
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Discover more about Shonaleigh and her beloved stories below.

Shonaleigh's website

Her courses can be found here

Shonaleigh's Twilight Tales Facebook group

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Bibliophiles might also like these pages:

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