‘It was my mum that got me into storytelling’: Man Met’s Iris Skipworth on winning a Guinness World Record

Manchester writer Iris Skipworth has become a Guinness world record holder for the longest continuous storytelling session – 80 hours non-stop.

The world record was set during the Marrakech International Storytelling Festival.

Iris, who studies creative writing at Man Met, broke the record at 80 hours, 32 minutes, and 58 seconds at the event, which saw over 100 storytellers from around the world share tales with the crowd in the Jemaa el-Fnaa Square.

Speaking to NQ, Iris shared her journey in storytelling and her experience narrating stories through language barriers alongside the other international participants in Morocco.

“I feel happy and it’s done a lot of good work for raising the profile of storytelling,” she said.

“I wasn’t aware that there was a Guinness World Record set up – it was just a great privilege. A typical day in my life is simple; I just keep on reading articles and going to lectures.

“I try to organise my storytelling club, or just read a book at home, and I try to do everything else on my to-do list while my parents, friends, or partner are around. They are always my priority, even if I am busy.”

A family passion

Iris started with storytelling at a young age, a passion given to her by her mother. “I’ve never been away from storytelling; it was always infused in my life since I was aware of it,” she said.

“The first time I told a story, I was seven. It was through my mum that I got into it, and I couldn’t thank her enough for introducing it to me.

“We started telling the story on Monday night and didn’t stop until Friday night. I did the storytelling for 94 hours, but after they did the footage-checking to set a proper record, we concluded it was 80 hours, 32 minutes, and 58 seconds.

“The record was just a bonus for us and after I won, there were confetti canons shot up to celebrate. I couldn’t tell my parents because I didn’t get a chance to tell them [at the time] – when I arrived here, I told them that I won.”

‘A mystical land far away’

The Guinness World Record-holder shared her thoughts on listening to the other stories at the competition. “That week at Marrakesh was the longest I’ve spent breathing in stories, and there were performances around that I would listen to during my free time,” she said.

“I enjoyed listening to some Moroccan stories. They had a translator who would narrate them to people, so it was an interesting connection. I would try to figure out what they are saying. They have a very good introduction to a story; like we have ‘Once Upon a Time’, they would narrate about a mystical land far away, which was interesting to hear.

“If I didn’t do storytelling, then I would think about being a book editor, or maybe I could be a journalist and get to talk to people. I think there are so many ways you can connect back to storytelling; the undercurrent of storytelling is the people, land, and history behind it – well, maybe I would be an anthropologist, studying people travelling to different countries and meeting new people.”

When asked what she was up to next, she said: “I have a busy calendar where I run a weekly storytelling club, then write up a few stories that my dad or I narrate on YouTube, and some festivals in summer. I’m just hopeful my cart stays full of my favourite hobby.”