Meet Dr. Senem Donatan Mohan
Senem is an internationally renowned storyteller, storytelling coach, and author. Holding a PhD in the natural sciences, with research cited over 300 times in international publications, she brings intellectual depth to her creative work.
She weaves together science and art to spark a sense of aliveness in audiences of all ages. Whether through interactive storytelling, lively workshops, or her books, she transforms learning into a joyful, shared adventure. Her sessions thrive on audience energy, humour, and surprise.
Known for her expressive and playful presence, Senem enjoys blending the ancient wisdom of traditional stories with contemporary, real-life experiences. In her performances, she creates a bridge between past and present, myth and modern-day reality.
Storytelling in my own words...
In my early childhood, my family and I lived on the 14th floor of an apartment building surrounded by many other high buildings in Istanbul, one of the world’s biggest cities. With construction work going on day after day all around us we lacked access to nature and to any outside playground area. The bitter smell of fluid cement and the burning sensation of concrete dust draw us indoors.
Up in the quiet of our bedroom, my younger sister Ekin and I transformed our bunk-bed into a submarine to travel the depths of the sea. I imagined my crew–my sister and my cousins–and I, as captain, passing by all kinds of sea creatures during our journey. I made up stories about those sea creatures for my crew. Our adventures in imaginary spaces took hours until my crew became tired of listening to my stories and rebelled against my command. Next, we pressed the button of the cassette player and our room became a disco. We danced and mumbled the song lyrics until an adult – either one of my parents or my cousins’ parents- came in and declared “That is enough”. To me, dancing could continue forever. My parents told me later how eagerly I moved my body whenever I heard a wee bit of a sound and often forced everybody around to dance with me.
When I started primary school, my enthusiasm for creating imaginary worlds and dancing oozed away. I guess I took my school responsibilities more seriously than expected from a 7-year old girl. After school, I niggled at my homeworks for ages. Then I listened to my parent’s business conversations while we ate our dinner. Before bedtime, I sat on the sofa and looked blankly at the TV screen. At school, once in a while during long lunch breaks, I played hide-and-seek or picnicked with my schoolmates in the big school garden. Other than that, my daily routine kept consistency.
My motivation is to spread the magical healing capacity of storytelling as an art form
In high school, I joined the drama club. Acting on stage swept away the boredom which I had been carrying since the age of 7, rekindling something inside me. Theatre became my passion. Each day after the last school bell, I rushed to the theatre hall for rehearsal. On the other hand, science was my favourite subject at school; especially chemistry and biology. I was amazed by the dynamic interactions happening deep down at microlevel. Making visible that which was invisible to our physical senses always enchanted me.
Since I was good at science, my engineer parents encouraged me to study engineering. When the decision time came for my future profession, my heart would go for acting. I wished to be the captain who leads people to imaginary worlds. My mind said, ‘’Senem, be realistic. Being an engineer offers you better possibilities in life.’’ At that time, I thought I found a way to satisfy both my heart and my mind.
I studied chemical engineering at Istanbul Technical University during the day and in the evenings I acted on stage at the university drama club. For a long time, art and science were two opposing driving forces in my life. After graduation, I continued to get involved in many art projects as an actress, a director, or a producer. Simultaneously, my scientific career built up from bachelor to masters, from masters to PhD. In 2011, I got a scholarship to do my post-doc research at one of the Max Planck Institutes in Germany. There, I became involved in cancer research; developing nano carriers for targeted drug delivery.
One night, alone in the laboratory, preparing my nano carrier samples, I felt frustrated. That day I messed up twice during preparation and had to repeat the whole procedure over and over. By the third time, I desperately wanted to have it done well and go home. The laboratory room was cold as always and my mood made the room much colder. Due to the procedure, I needed to stay there and mind the samples while they incubated. While waiting, out of the blue, I sang a song I had learned in one of my drama training sessions. As I sang, I felt warmer. I started to dance along and felt much warmer. That night, the laboratory room transformed into a magical disco. I sang and danced at all the waiting times until I finished my work. Returning home, I asked myself ‘’Do I really want to spend the rest of my life in a laboratory room? Or am I longing for spending time in magical spaces?’’ Clearly, the latter.
Storytelling taught me to savour playing with words and creating multilevel meanings
After that epiphany, I got more clear with my vision. Although my scholarship was for one year, I completed my experiments in six months and terminated my contract. I quit the academy and decided to live from my savings until I could find a way of earning my keep as a performing artist.
During that transition period, I slowed down. The boredom from my primary school days came back and overwhelmed me. Nothing seemed to have a meaning. Then, a great novelty happened. I came across storytelling. My most enjoyable activity from early childhood; setting up imaginary spaces and playing with others was an art form! Storytelling enabled me to dive deep, bringing the hidden treasures to the surface, making the invisible visible and sharing with others.
Since 2013, my focus has been on storytelling. I poured all my scientific knowledge and artistic experience into storytelling. My motivation is to spread the magical healing capacity of storytelling as an art form since I myself have benefited many times from the merits of listening to a good story. I believe that stories are ‘soul food’ and they need to be served delicately in order to nourish the listeners well.
Further in my life journey, I became a co-founder of Seiba International Storytelling Centre located in Turkey. I touched the lives of thousands of children and adults through my performances. I have also trained hundreds of people to develop their storytelling skills throughout Asia and Europe.
In 2017, I attended a personal storytelling intensive workshop for three weeks on Crete island. There I fell in love with my Irish husband and moved to Ireland in 2019. Here, I established my own company. Since then, I have performed at festivals, in schools, libraries, museums and at special events. I have facilitated workshops in cultural and community centres and at corporate settings.
So far, I have written two children’s books in Turkish, which will soon be published in English, and contributed to various publications, with essays spanning topics like molecular biomimetics, feminist thought, mythology, folklore, ecology, and literature. Stories help me make sense of the world, and sharing that journey is one of my greatest joys.
My Journey
First Novel submitted in Turkish: The Sweet Taste of Murky Water
Co-curator and Featured Teller at the Enchanted Garden Storytelling Event in Kilruddery, Ireland
Workshop facilitator at Aliveness Within Workshop, Glendalough, Ireland
Co-Host of Personal Story Swaps as part of Worldstorytelling Cafe Online Events
Featured Teller at Yarn Story Circle, Bray, Ireland
Featured teller at Hungry Grass Stray Sod Show in Dublin Fringe Festival, the show was nominated for First Fortnight Category at Dublin Fridge Festival Awards, Ireland
Featured teller at Marrakesh International Storytelling Festival, participated in winning the Guinness record for the world’s longest storytelling performance, Morocco
World Premiere of One-Woman Show: Entangled Roots at Mezrab, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Featured Teller at Drumlin Storytelling Festival, Co. Monaghan, Ireland
Co-Host of Personal Story Swaps as part of Worldstorytelling Cafe Online Events
Workshop facilitator at Introduction to Storytelling Workshops for Turkish audience, Ireland
Featured Teller at Tullycarnet Yarnspinners - Library and school events by Armstrong Storytelling Trust, Northern Ireland
Teller at ‘’Dublin Love’’ - Seanchoiche Event, Ireland
Second children’s book published in Turkish: How?/ A story-science-game journey
Workshop Facilitator at Sharing Practices Network Meeting of Storytelling Practitioner’s Community, Crete, Greece
Featured Teller at Storytelling for Children Workshops, Kathmandu, Nepal
Published Article in English, Turkish & German: The Taste of the Mother Tongue in the book Hiddensee und der Orient, Germany
Keynote Speaker at Women Network in Aptiv, Dublin, Ireland
Workshop facilitator at Aliveness Within Workshop, Glendalough, Ireland
Workshop facilitator at Introduction to Storytelling Workshops in Rade Community Centre, Dublin, Ireland
Workshop Facilitator at Elemental Leadership, Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland
Workshop Facilitator at Lead from the Right, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Featured Teller at Wisdom Fair Show at Yarn Storytelling Festival (in collaboration with Fiona Dowling & Simone Schuemmelfelder), Bray, Ireland
Featured Teller at DLR Yarnspinners, Dublin, Ireland
Featured Teller at the Storytelling Event in Ballyglas Mayo, Ireland
Featured teller at Multilingual Identity of Immigrants Project, Trinity College and Limerick University, Ireland
Workshop Facilitator of Stories Cure, online
Featured teller at UCD Family Festival, Dublin, Ireland
Premiere of the One-Woman Show: The Fertile Crescent at Yarn Storytelling Festival, Bray, Ireland
First children’s book published in Turkish: Why? A story-science-game journey
Featured teller at Tullycarnet Yarnspinners, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Featured teller at Hotter Than July Festival, online
Featured teller at World Storytelling Day Event by Storytellers of Ireland, online
Coordinator and Trainer at Storyteller’s Way (Professional Storyteller Training Program), Istanbul, Turkey
Workshop Facilitator at Federation of European Storytelling Conference, Netherlands Workshop Facilitator at Threshold Training Centre, Dublin, Ireland
Featured teller at Dublin Yarnspinners, Dublin, Ireland
Featured teller at Triple Spiral Storytellers, Kilcullen, Ireland
Featured Teller at ‘’Telling with Dixit’’ Performance (Story-game Project), Ankara, Turkey & Dublin, Ireland
Workshop Facilitator at Mystreetsireland Project, Dublin, Ireland
Coordinator and Trainer at Storytelling: Key to Humanity (Adult Education Program)
Moderator at Feminist Pedagogy Conference, İstanbul, Turkey
Fairytale Teacher at FIDE Primary School - weekly sessions to all classes
Trainer at ‘’In the Name of Imagination’’ Youth Storytelling Project, Balıkesir-Diyarbakır, Turkey
Storytelling Coach at ‘’Of the Roots, Branches and Wings’’ (Personal Storytelling Performance)
Featured teller at Cape Clear International Storytelling Festival, Cork, Ireland
Featured teller at Federation of European Storytelling Post Conference Event, Ireland
Story Coach and Trainer at Storyteller’s Way (Professional Storyteller Training Program)
Workshop Facilitator at Federation of European Storytelling Conference, Ireland Workshop Facilitator at ‘’I’ve Got the Power’’ (Documentary Project), İstanbul, Turkey Teller at ‘’Beyond the Mountain of Qaf (Art Exhibition), ARTER, İstanbul, Turkey
Artistic Director at ‘’Once Upon A Place’’ Project (Collaboration with Fiona Dowling from DLR Arts Office), Dublin, Ireland - İstanbul, Turkey
Coordinator and Trainer at Storyteller’s Way (Professional Storyteller Training Program)
Assistant Director and Script Consultant at #resistayol (Documentary Project), Istanbul
Featured teller at Mardin Teller’s Gathering (Storytelling Festival), Mardin, Turkey Teller at ‘’Journey to Kundura’’ Performance (Oral History Project), Beykoz, Turkey Teller at ‘’The Circle of Nine’’ Storytelling Performance, Istanbul, Turkey
Teller at ‘’Gourmand Tales’’ Performance (Storytelling-Culinary Art Project), Istanbul Teller at ‘’Telling with Dixit’’ Performance (Story-game Project), Istanbul, Turkey
Featured Teller at HofFestSpiele Community Festival, Berlin, Germany
Coordinator and Facilitator at Beyond Borders Linkingourstories Project, Büyükada, Istambul, Turkey.
Story Coach at ‘’Love between Two Worlds’’, Storytelling Performance, Istanbul, Turkey
Director at ‘’TROM’’, Theatre Performance, Istanbul, Turkey
Performer at Beyond Borders Linkingourstories Project, Sofia, Bratislava, Yerevan
Workshop Facilitator at Beyond Borders Linkingourstories Project, Aqdzthk, Armenia
Assistant at ‘’Approach Your Ear’’ (Youth Storytelling Project), Bern, Switzerland
Teller at ‘’Fama’s House Storytelling Group’’, Istanbul, Turkey
Assistant Director at ‘’Situation is This’’ Theatre Performance, Istanbul, Turkey
Facilitator at ‘’Movement Workshop Renewed’’, Wowdance, İstanbul, Turkey
Teller at Theatre of Oppressed Forum Series, İstanbul, Turkey
Director at ‘’Story of A Wall’’ (Theatre Performance for Children), İstanbul, Turkey
Workshop Facilitator at Beyond Borders Linkingourstories Project, Theatre Madrasa, İzmir
