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by Megan Finnerty That’s a big promise. But that’s what my how-to workshop at the 2014 National Storytelling Conference promises: a way for you to make your community more awesome with little to no money and just the help of a few friends. Across the country, live storytelling nights are proliferating in restaurants, bars and […]

It was one of those meetings where they’ve agreed to speak with you about your “consulting,” but they weren’t really sold that somebody local could help them. I handed a small packet of information to each of the two folks I was meeting for lunch. On top of each packet was a copy of my

by Rachel Nelson As the fates would allow, I was born into a family that gave me an old-fashioned apprenticeship in the profession of music. While still a baby, I rested on one of two pianos in a studio where my parents were rehearsing a 2-piano version of Rachmoninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. As a toddler,

by Pam Faro You probably had to be there… Raising a quizzical eyebrow, she speaks with feigned ignorance and asks the oh-so-pregnant-with-meaning question: “Now, Pam…What are you a Master of?” I take my cue…spread open my hands, raise eyes upward, and with a voice exuding a beatific awareness of the numinous, I answer in a

By Regina Ress I learned how to tell stories while substitute teaching in the New York City public schools. Talk about boot camp! I was often working with “at risk” children, many of whom were…shall we say…deeply disengaged from the classroom activities. When I began to bring in stories… not read them, but tell them…my

by Liz Weir I have lived in Northern Ireland all my life. The first 18 years or so were uneventful. I was lucky enough to grow up in a house where stories were told. Many were about my family’s adventures in India during the late 1930’s when my father was a career soldier and of

By Katie Knutson Are you ready to dive into the world of school residencies? If so, here are a few tips that will make the walk to the diving board and the plunge a little less shocking. There are two major models for residencies that I use: the pre-packaged residency and the co-created residency. They

by Doug Lipman In January, 2013, I had a problem. My week as Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center was coming up soon, and the stories I wanted to tell there – an hour of stories about my parents – didn’t yet exist! How would I create and polish them in so short a time?

© 2014  Kate Dudding You remember Marilyn Monroe, right? It seemed to me that there had been so much publicity about her, that I had to know everything there is to know about her. However recently I was very surprised to read that Marilyn Monroe had changed Ella Fitzgerald’s life by making a phone call.

by Priscilla Howe What is that? See it, down there, under ages of dust and grime, just a glint of gold? Pick it up, use your shirttail to wipe it off. Wow! What a marvel! Needs a bit of cleaning, polishing, maybe a small repair or two, but it’s all there, a new story from