Find a Storyteller – Merna Ann Hecht

Pacific

Applied Storytelling

Stories of Hope, Reconciliation and Light; Peace-making Stories; Elegant Ghost Stories that are ultimately redemptive; Stories that support listeners in internalizing hope and courage and a will to nurture and protect the planet and each other; Stories derived from the Sephardic, Yiddish, Gypsy and other Eastern European Traditions; Multicultural Folktales.

Merna Ann Hecht, is a 2008 recipient of a NSN Brimstone Award for Applied Storytelling, through which she worked at BRIDGES: A Center for Grieving Children in Tacoma, WA. Based on that experience and her many years of diverse work as a storyteller and poet with young people who have experienced life-altering trauma and loss the focus of her work and her writing is on creating safe Sspace for giving voice to trauma,loss, hope and resilience. She founded and co-driects the Stories of Arrival: Refugee and Immigrant Youth Voices Poetry Project at Foster High School in Tukwila, WA, one of the most ethnically diverse high schools in the U.S. This project, now in its 7th year, is sponsored in part by the Institute for Poetic Medicine in Palo Alto, CA. Merna also teaches Creative Writing, Humanities and Social Justice courses for the University of WA, Tacoma. Her essays “How Long Peace Takes: Writing about World Issues using the Poetry of Naomi Shihab Nye;” “Stories of Arrival: A Poetry Project with Immigrant and Refugee High School Students;” and “Inside a Person>s Heart: Finding Solace from Stories and Poems” appear in recent issues of Teachers & Writers Magazine. Merna offers workshops on bringing words to sorrow through poetry and on poems & stories of witness to the struggles and suffering of others. Her writing and speaking are noted for addressing the need to create communities wherein everyone>s stories and voices are embraced and accepted with regard & understanding.

All Ages

Seattle, WA School District Tacoma, WA School District Tukwila, WA School Distrivt Many rural schools in Idaho and also Ada County School District in Boise, ID Detroit MI School District

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cost of travel and lodging and honorarium for performances and workshops as agreed per contact

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