The Stanford Daily (Palo Alto, CA), February 15, 2008
Summary:
Members of the Stanford Storytelling Project interviewed people in White Plaza about love stories last week. This new initiative began at Stanford University in the fall of 2007. Through a weekly, themed radio show, an audio-video podcast, and live events, they are showcasing some of the best storytelling happening at Stanford and looking closely at the craft of storytelling across genres and media.
“It’s touch with a voice,” says Jonah Willihnganz, a lecturer in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric (PWR).
“It’s been around as long as there have been people on earth,” says Andrea Lunsford, director of PWR.
Willihnganz studies the relationship between literature and radio. In exploring this topic, his conversations with other scholars revealed a great interest in public radio storytelling programs such as “This American Life.”
“I began to think about how much really good storytelling there was at Stanford, and not just in the writing program,” Willihnganz says. “We wanted to find a way to share these stories in some way that wasn’t a live event — all of us are so busy that we can barely make it to a live event.”
Willihnganz hired two students already involved in KZSU, Micah Cratty ‘08 and Bonnie Swift ‘08, to serve as senior producers. Last summer, the trio scoured archives of audio essays and short stories and began selecting material for their first few episodes. Now, the team solicits story submissions.
Each show has a theme, such as “Approaching Africa” or “Living in the Panopticon,” and consists of several pieces from different genres, such as fiction, memoir and audio journalism.
Goals for the project include promoting the art of storytelling on campus as well as providing an outlet for creativity.
Tune in Mondays at 6pm on 90.1 KZSU or get the podcast on Stanford iTunes
Subjects Covered: digital storytelling