STORYTELLING rarely catches the headlines but there are groups trying hard to excite anyone willing to listen. Storytelling-in-Hope is one such organisation and it takes over the Bob Hope Theatre on Wythfield Road, Eltham, one Sunday every month with professional writers reading their work.

June's incumbent is Maltese born author Saviour Pirotta so named after Jesus by his devoutly Christian parents.

The fan of pirate and ghost stories has written books, both fiction and non-fiction and for children and adults as well as screenplays since coming to England in 1982.

He was honoured with the English Association's best non-fiction picture book in 1998 for A Seed in Need, a first look at the life cycle of a sunflower.

On June 19 from 7.30pm Saviour will be reading a feast of stories with a Mediterranean feeling as well as speaking about how he got into the printed word.

-For more information, call 020 8850 3702.