What happens when stories are told instead of written down, especially when they can change with each telling by a new narrator? Be it talking pumpkins, quarrelling spirits, or a snake that becomes king: in the wondrous world of Bhutanese fairy tales and folk stories, many things are possible. Passed down orally over centuries, they evolve with each retelling and exist in a wide variety of variations.

The Bhutanese author Gopilal Acharya has collected many of these stories. Together with the narrator Johanna Wollin from the educational project ErzählZeit, he hosts a storytelling hour as part of Middle Ground: Nepal Literature Festival, in which children and their families are invited to immerse themselves in the world of Bhutanese fairy tales and the secrets and adventures contained within.