The Story Forge
Vol. 3, No. 15 | November 2019
Welcome to the updated NSN e-newsletter - The Story Forge! This newsletter is intended for those storytellers and story-lovers who originally forged the storytelling community and those who continue to forge the community. We hope you enjoy the adjustments that have been made. NSN wants this newsletter to be for the storytelling community, BY the storytelling community! Please let us know if you have items that would be of interest to our readers.
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Hi ! November has arrived and has brought with it proper autumn weather at the NSN office. Whether you're experiencing warm or cool weather right now, we hope you'll pause in your activities to peruse this month's Story Forge. Happy reading!
Did you miss an edition of The Story Forge? You can read previous editions of the newsletter here.
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In Memoriam: Cathryn Fairlee
Our faithful member Cathryn Fairlee of Cotati, California, has died. According to her family, she passed peacefully at her home on Sunday, October 13.
Cathryn was recently honored at the 2019 National Storytelling Summit with NSN's International StoryBridge ORACLE Award, for her exemplary work, dedication, and spirit, building bridges through storytelling with travel and research through China, India, and Uzbekistan. She was a tireless advocate for traditional storytelling, encouraging tellers to learn and tell epic myths and legends of world cultures, through events like Myth Off and her semi-annual Epic Days.
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At the National Storytelling Network, our mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy, and education.
STORY NOW! Interview Series
The theme of our 2019 annual conference was Story Now!
Now! From the boardroom to the classroom, and the page to the stage, personal stories and folktales are catalysts for change in every aspect of our lives.
Now! We are witnessing the power of stories to tear down the walls that divide us, build bridges between people and cultures, and connect us, human-to-human.
In this interview series, we’ll talk to storytellers who exemplify this Story Now! movement.
Each month we’ll sit down with an NSN member or member organization, from around the globe, and go behind the scenes to explore how they are personally harnessing the power of storytelling to tear down walls, to be a catalyst for change and connect us human-to-human. Through one-on-one, in-depth conversations, we’ll discover the type of storytelling they do, how they do it, who their audience is and, most importantly, they’ll give examples of the real world, tangible results they get.
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Karen Golden
Los Angeles, California
Kathy: You started a unique school for kids that incorporates storytelling in its curriculum. Tell us about it.
Karen Golden: Creative Learning Place (CLP) is a learning center that specializes in classes for homeschooled students and their families. We offer 60 enrichment classes a week for students in grades K – 12 in a wide variety of subjects, including, English, Live Action Role Play (LARP) science, game design, chess, sewing, cooking, science, math, robotics, ping pong, history, visual arts, filmmaking, gardening, theater, music, and of course storytelling. We currently have 120 students.
Karen Golden
You may be thinking, wait, shouldn’t homeschoolers be at home? The word “homeschool” really ought to be called “parent directed education,” where parents have a choice on how to educate their children. Being at home is only part of the equation. Our center is the best of a school (interactive hands-on learning, teachers who care, group discussions, and plenty of social time) without the worst of a school (large classes, bullying, and mindless homework). It is a safe place that is always bustling with energy and vitality from our enthusiastic students to our inspired teachers. All of our students and teachers want to be there engaging in the process of learning. We are a unique community of diverse people coming together for a common cause: Inspiring children to be life-long learners...
Read more of Karen's interview on the NSN website by clicking the button below!
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NSN CONFERENCE NEWS
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National Storytelling Conference 2020 Call for Proposals Closing Soon
The Call for Proposals for the 2020 Conference is open. Whether you're a first-time speaker/performer or a seasoned professional, we would love for you to consider submitting a proposal for the 2020 Conference. NSN is striving to provide a quality event FOR storytellers and story-lovers BY storytellers and story-lovers and we can't do it without YOU!
If you haven't already, please be sure to mark your calendars for July 23-26, 2020, and save the dates so you can attend and make the most of the conference!
Stay up to date with the latest announcements for the 2020 National Storytelling Conference through email announcements, social networks, and on the conference webpage.
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Moved by immigration crisis, mime opens up about his journey to Maine
Portland Press Herald, Maine September 8, 2019
As an immigrant from Brazil and a US citizen for 18 years, storyteller and mime Antonia Rocha hopes to show people there’s nothing to fear. Rocha treats his stories as bridges of understanding, and tells school kids he works with, “When you encounter something different – an accent, a food, a face – it’s an opportunity to discover something you didn’t know before.”
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PARTNER PROGRAM NEWS
The Story Center at Mid-Continent Public Library
The staff at the Story Center have been very busy making plans for some fabulous fall programs! These are events you won't want to miss!
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NSN MEMBER PROJECTS
FROM INDIVIDUAL MEMBER
C.M. CONWAY
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Have you ever tried to succeed in an industry where thousands of struggling artists are on the ‘bottom’ of the pyramid, and a tiny portion of wildly successful artists are on top? If you’re an actor, musician, storyteller, dancer, writer, crafts person or painter – statistically speaking, this is YOU.
Time to flip this model, you in? This family-friendly film is your film, and represents the voices of the female and minority storytellers in all trades determined to make it – on our terms.
For anyone who’s had funny colossal fiascos on the way to a dream… this film is for you!
We’re actively crowdfunding and all donations are tax-deductible. When donating, you may also place a public note with your name (and/or website) that exists on the page in perpetuity. Join our community!
FROM ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBER TEJAS STORYTELLING ASSOCIATION
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Pleasant Journeys: Tales and Travel of who Lives Story
It was 1992, I was honored to teach storytelling full time in California, according to NSN serving as “the first full-time high school storytelling teacher in the country.” However, at the time, even now, little curriculum was available on teaching storytelling, but my ‘go-to’ collection of stories, multiple volumes, were retold by the talented Pleasant Despain.
At the time I thought Pleasant created stories that were easy to tell for youth. However, after years of working with story, this was naïve of me. Where I thought the stories were easy to tell, they were more than that, it was a collection that worked to speak to the essences of the folktales, the hidden gems of language and plot to make the story sound easy, but instead was a way to echo what made the tale real. These tales could only be revealed if you lived in the land of the story. This is the work of Pleasant Despain.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Calendar events can be viewed on the NSN website by clicking the button below.
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NORTH CENTRAL REGION
Illinois
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Iowa
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Michigan
November 1, 2019,7:00 pm TELLABRATION!™ A night of storytelling!
November 2, 2019,8:25 am Storytelling Fun & Story Play and Clap It, Tap It, Sing It! presented by Karen Bonnici
November 3, 2019,2:00 pm Storytelling and Story sharing featuring author, Mary Johnson Grant
November 4, 2019,10:00 am “My Mother’s Voice” by Judy Sima
November 5, 2019,6:30 pm, Monthly Moth Story Slam
November 6, 2019,10:00 am “From Tots to Teens: Telling Stories to Children” with Judy Sima
November 6, 2019,2:00 pm “Kerry Tales: “Mittens, Muffins and Mother Goose.”
November 6, 2019,7:00 pm HERsay VI
November 7, 2019,9:30 am Parent-Tellers
November 7, 2019,7:00 pm Monthly Moth Story Slam
November 8, 2019,7:30 pm TELLABRATION!™ 2019
November 13, 2019,6:00 pm Forest Service stories with Pete Griffin
November 13, 2019,7:00 pm Muskegon Yarnspinners Monthly Meeting
November 14, 2019,6:30 pm Mid-Michigan Area Storytellers (M.A.S.T.) meeting
November 14, 2019,7:30 pm Go Comedy Improv Theater
November 15, 2019,8:00 pm,MI,Real People. True Stories. Told Live.
November 16, 2019,12:00 pm Detroit Story League Monthly Meeting
November 18, 2019,6:30 pm StorySpinners of Grand Rapids Monthly Meeting
November 18, 2019,7:00 pm Lansing Storytellers Guild Monthly Meeting
November 18, 2019,7:00 pm "Hide and Seek"
November 19, 2019,6:30 pm Monthly Moth Story Slam
November 21, 2019,5:30 pm TELLABRATION!™
November 23, 2019,10:00 am Detroit Association of Black Storytellers Monthly Meeting
November 24, 2019,2:00 pm Ann Arbor Storytellers' Guild Monthly Meeting
Nebraska
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
North Dakota
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
South Dakota
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Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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SOUTHEAST REGION
Alabama
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Georgia
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Kentucky
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Mississippi
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South Carolina
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Tennessee
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Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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NORTHEAST REGION
Maine
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New York
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Rhode Island
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Vermont
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Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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MID-ATLANTIC REGION
District of Columbia
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Maryland
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New Jersey
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Virginia
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West Virginia
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Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
Arkansas
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Kansas
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Louisiana
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Oklahoma
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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WESTERN REGION
Colorado
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Idaho
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Montana
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
New Mexico
Utah
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Wy0ming
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Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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PACIFIC REGION
Alaska
Sorry, there are no upcoming events on our calendar for the next 31 days in this region. Do you know of an upcoming event? Submit it to be included on the NSN calendar here!
Hawaii
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Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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INTERNATIONAL & ONLINE
International
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Do you know of an upcoming event in this region? Submit it to be included on the NSN event calendar! Click here to submit an event.
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