MLIVE.com (Lansing, MI), July 11, 2012
Summary:
Storytellers will come from the Midwest and the South to Flint share their tales, and Genesee County children will have a chance to do the same.
The Flint Public Library’s 32nd Annual The Michigan Storytellers Festival is on Friday, July 20 7 a.m. till 10 p.m., and Saturday, July 21 9 a.m. till 10 p.m. The family-friendly event is free at the library, 1026 Kearsley, Flint.
“To share the art of storytelling is an old, old art that people have engaged in for years,” said Brenda Harris, librarian and festival coordinator. When you tell your fav joke, or something happened to you, that’s storytelling—that’s just a formal way of doing it.
Nationally-recognized storytellers at the festival include Ann Arbor children’s recording artists Gemini, Chicago’s zany Linda Gorham, and West Virginia comedian/author Bil Lepp, who has won the West Virginia Liars’ Contest five times.
The Teen Story Slamapalooza is a new part of the festival this year. Storyteller Karen Czarnik will arm teens with storytelling skills, and give them the chance to share them at the end of the workshop.
“That teen age is very different from a young child, and we’re always looking for ways we can appeal to them,” said Wanda Harden, library public relations coordinator. “…The festival attracts people of all ages, so we thought, let’s try something for teens and see if anyone has interest in telling their own story. There’s a lot of power in telling your own story, fiction or non-fiction.
Subjects Covered: storytelling festivals