ORACLE Awards

NSN is proud to annually recognize individuals and organizations for their outstanding contributions to storytelling. The members of the Awards Committee for 2023 are: Sarah Juba Addison, Chair, Alton Chung, Mary Gay Ducey, Angela Lloyd, Cora Newcomb, and Toni Simmons.

The 2023 ORACLE Award Recipients

Dolores Hydock – Circle of Excellence Award

Dolores’ one-woman shows and story performances have been featured at conferences, festivals, and special events throughout the United States, including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. She has been Teller-in-Residence at Jonesborough’s International Storytelling Center, has taught storytelling workshops at East Tennessee State University, Birmingham-Southern College, and various festivals around the U.S., and has won Resource Awards from Storytelling World Magazine for her twelve CDs of original stories. She has collaborated with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Birmingham Museum of Art to blend stories with music and art, and her Christmas story special airs annually on NPR-affiliate WBHM in Birmingham. Dolores lives in Irondale, Alabama, on the eastern edge of Birmingham.  More about Dolores at:   www.storypower.org

Jessica Piscitelli Robinson – Regional Service & Leadership Award (Mid-Atlantic)

Jessica Robinson founded Better Said Than Done https://www.bettersaidthandone.com/ in 2011. In addition to performing with Better Said Than Done, and locally in the DC Metro area, Jessica has performed at Exchange Place at the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN in 2018 and, in 2019, in the Susquehanna Folk Festival’s Liar’s Contest. In 2020, she appeared on PBS’ “Stories from the Stage,” and produced the first Women’s Storytelling Festival. Virtually, Jessica has performed for the Queens Theater, Artists Standing Strong Together (ASST), Six Feet Apart Productions, Stories for Healing, First Person Arts Festival, Mostly True Things, The Story Space, Bridgeport Pechakucha, at 2 National Storytelling Network (NSN) Conferences, and the Forest Storytelling Festival. She also shared stories on the Bonkers Brit, Elemental Woman, Full Spirals, Orchid Story, and Funny Parents Podcasts. In 2022, Jessica was a featured teller at the Stone Soup Festival, the Washington Folk Festival, and the Allegheny Highlands Story Festival, and in 2023 was a featured storyteller for Florida Storytelling Festival and the Hampton Storytelling Festival. Jessica is a contributing author to the book Roar: True Tales of Women Warriors.
Jessica has been leading storytelling workshops since 2011. In addition to Better Said Than Done workshops for individuals, Jessica has led storytelling workshops for The Story Center at MCPL, INOVA Fairfax Hospital, George Washington University School of Business, Story Crossroads, AHRQ, The Brookings Institution, and the World Bank.  More about Jessica here: https://www.bettersaidthandone.com/storyteller/

Loralee Cooley – Regional Service & Leadership Award (Southeast)

LORALEE COOLEY, whose business name is “Storyspinning,” began telling stories professionally in 1977 in Arizona. She began to comprehend that a told story can be quite powerful–but having no knowledge of anyone DOING storytelling professionally–she launched her career by using material based on Arizona history and filling in for the Governor’s wife for a luncheon.

Subsequently, Loralee’s “Storyspinning” has taken her from Arizona to Virginia, South Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma. In Georgia she was instrumental in launching the Southern Order of Storytellers and is credited with inspiring many tellers in that area.  She is now based in Albuquerque New Mexico.   She’s been listed on the artists’ rosters of the South Carolina Arts Commission and Texas Council for the Arts.

Her storytelling style strives to bring simple words to life, telling classic tales and modern stories that enchant audiences of all ages.  She has told to scouting groups, university students, summer festivals and convention attendees.  For more about Loralee see:     www.storyspinning.net

Since their inception in 1995, the ORACLE Awards have been presented by the National Storytelling Network to those who have excelled in their art, or made significant contributions to storytelling, NSN or its members.

The ORACLE can be an award given for:

O rganization/Originality
R eliability
A chievements
C reativity
L eadership
E xcellence

in the Storytelling Community

Nomination Process

Nominations for 2024 Oracle Awards will open December 5, 2023
Deadline for submissions: March 13, 2024 by 10 pm Central Time

Click Here for Submission Instructions

Click Here to Submit a Nomination

Award Recipients

Lifetime Achievement Award – is presented to individuals in the storytelling community who have dedicated their lives to the art form of storytelling and who have demonstrated meritorious service to the National Storytelling Network, as well as to the community of storytellers at large. The individuals who are awarded are those who have expanded public awareness of the art of storytelling by virtue of their preservation of traditional art forms or the significant originality of their body of work.

Circle of Excellence Award – is presented to artists who are recognized nationally by their peers to be master storytellers who set the standards for excellence and have demonstrated, over a significant period of time, a commitment and dedication to the art of storytelling.

Distinguished National Service Award – is presented to those individuals, members or groups who contribute their time and energy in an exemplary manner on the national level to forward the work of the National Storytelling Network.

Talking Leaves – is presented to those members of our community who have made outstanding contributions to the literary body of storytelling as authors, editors or collectors.

International StoryBridge Award – recognizes the exemplary work, dedication and spirit of those individuals or groups that promote the art of storytelling in their own country or promote the building of bridges between their country and other countries through the use of storytelling and/or storytelling events.

ORACLE Award Submission Form

Deadline: March 13, 2024 12 midnight Central Time

General Instructions

This is a digital nomination form. Please complete the form online and submit with your letters.

Format

Narrative and Letters of Support: 8 ½” x 11”, with 1-inch margins and type font no smaller than 11pt. Please note that the maximum number of pages is five (5) for the narrative and two (2) for each letter. For the Regional Excellence Awards only, please also include a link to a video showing a Storytelling performance of the nominee (YouTube, website, etc.) 

Directions for Narrative Addressing Qualifications of the Nominee

When writing the narrative, please refer to the description of the specific award:

  • Lifetime Achievement Award – is presented to individuals in the Storytelling community who have dedicated their lives to the art form of Storytelling and who have demonstrated meritorious service to the National Storytelling Network, as well as to the community of Storytellers at large. The individuals who are awarded are those who have expanded public awareness of the art of Storytelling by virtue of their preservation of traditional art forms or the significant originality of their body of work.
  • Circle of Excellence Award – is presented to artists who are recognized nationally by their peers to be master Storytellers who set the standards for excellence and have demonstrated, over a significant period of time, a commitment and dedication to the art of Storytelling.
  • Regional Excellence Award – recognizes the creativity, professional integrity, and artistic contributions of tellers who have greatly enriched the Storytelling culture of their region. Note: video is required with this nomination since the evaluation committee may be unfamiliar with the nominee’s Storytelling work.
  • Distinguished National Service Award – is presented to those individuals, members, or groups who contribute their time and energy in an exemplary manner on the national level to forward the work of the National Storytelling Network.
  • Talking Leaves – is presented to those members of our community who have made outstanding contributions to the literary body of Storytelling as authors, editors, or collectors.
  • International StoryBridge Award – recognizes the exemplary work, dedication, and spirit of those individuals or groups that promote the building of bridges between their country and other countries through the use of Storytelling and/or Storytelling events.
  • Regional Service & Leadership Awards – presented to individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to their local or regional Storytelling community and/or have used Storytelling to make a significant contribution to the larger community in which they live.

Here are some topics you may want to cover. Please focus on topics relevant to the specific award you are submitting a nomination for. The ORACLE committee can’t judge a nominee’s excellence if the Narrative and Letters of Support concentrate on their service and leadership; they can’t give Talking Leaves (publications) if they hear mostly about the nominee’s excellent performances, etc.

  • Description of how the nominee’s work has expanded public awareness of storytelling.
  • Description of the nominee’s contribution to NSN (especially important for Distinguished National Service, International Story Bridge, and Regional Service & Leadership Awards).
  • Description of the nominee’s contribution to the storytelling community (especially important for Distinguished National Service, International Story Bridge, and Regional Service & Leadership Awards).
  • Description of the nominee’s contribution to the community in which they live (especially important for Distinguished National Service, International Story Bridge, and Regional Service & Leadership Awards).

NOTE: No more than five (5) pages of narrative will be accepted.

Please note: Letters or excerpts in support of a winning nomination may be posted on the NSN website.

Please submit each nomination individually. Submission via the online form is preferred. If you are not able to submit online, please contact the office at 651-703-8191.

Submitting the nomination

  • Online Form: Click here to go to the online submission form.

Questions regarding submissions can be directed to the NSN staff at  or +1-651-703-8191.

All original copies will be kept on file by NSN. If the nominee is not selected in the year nominated, the nominee’s paperwork will be kept on file and automatically reconsidered in the following year.

Nominator Information

(Membership in NSN is not required)

Nominee Information

(Regional Excellence, Service & Leadership Only)
(Regional Excellence Only)
(NSN membership is not required)

Supporting the Nomination

Include with this form, letters of support (each 1-2 pages) from three other people. Include the contact information for these individuals below. (NOTE: only 3 letters will be accepted.)

First Supporter