Namaste, y'all.
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As President of the International Storytelling Center (ISC) in Jonesborough, Tennessee, Kiran is a long way from his native England. His parents and older brother—then just a babe-in-arms—arrived there as refugees in 1972 as they fled from Uganda at gun point as part of an ethnic cleansing regime of then-dictator, Idi Amin. The only things they could take with them were their stories, and these they had in abundance. Although he was born in the United Kingdom, these stories of Kiran's heritage were a strong part of his upbringing. His mother was from Kenya, his father was born in India, and his brother was born in Uganda. “My own family is a mini-United Nations,” he quips. The stories shared helped him find a sense of identity and belonging, and served to instill in him courage, determination, and perseverance.
These same qualities are what he uses to promote the power of storytelling. By sharing stories, people listen to one another, and listening leads to empathy, compassion, and a sense of belonging. Telling stories is not just about entertainment, it is about the collective power of personal narratives to break down walls and heal divisions. Storytelling is a universal human right and a universal form of cultural expression. Everyone has stories, and Kiran deeply, unapologetically believes everyone’s stories deserve to be heard. As he explains it, by listening to each other’s stories we begin to understand each other. That understanding leads to respect and justice, which ultimately leads to peace. Such is the power of story. 
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To that end, Kiran has put this belief into practice. He’s spoken at the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center, and led programs for the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the US State Department, and the Pentagon. He’s developed workshops for groups in Charleston, South Carolina, following the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church, and provided trainings for humanities and arts commissions across the United States. As a Rotary Peace Fellow, he presented a workshop and break-out sessions at the Rotary International annual convention in Hamburg, Germany, in 2019, and was presented with the Rotary International Champion of Peace award at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2017.
Closer to home, Kiran's work at ISC focuses largely on youth empowerment and creating safe spaces for more equitable narratives. ISC’s programming offers storytelling initiatives for children as young as five all the way through adulthood. Through his vision, one of the nation’s first “narrative medicine partnerships” is up and running—a collaboration between ISC and a rural hospital which helps train healthcare staff to utilize storytelling in patient care. The Freedom Stories initiative, which ran from 2019-2021 and was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, focused on unearthing the Black heritage of Appalachia through a unique marriage of performance storytelling, humanities scholarship, and public discussion. Kiran's passion is palatable. Every lecture, workshop, training, and program always has two ideas at the fore: global peace and the stories that will get us there. As Kiran says, “Once you understand your own story matters, it’s not a large leap to understand other people’s do, too.” |
Get to know Kiran in his own words.
Listen below to an interview with Kiran on "Sunday Morning With..." on BBC Scotland.
Kiran’s contributions explore culturally diverse approaches through working with communities affected by conflict and marginalization.”
-J. Orr, Chair of UK National Commission, UNESCO Scotland Committee
Get In Touch
Ready to make story part of your organization's culture? Want Kiran to speak at your next event?
Reach out for more information and we'll see how we can work together.
Reach out for more information and we'll see how we can work together.