Storytelling Festival Articles

Creating Original Ghost Stories with Cynthia Rintye How did I come to teach a workshop on ghost stories? Well, I certainly had no intention of becoming an expert on spooky tales or paranormal experiences. Then again, I had no intention of becoming the Queen of England, a professional Segway rider, or a teenage zombie trainer.  […]

The HOUR of REVELATION is HERE! The Programming Committee is thrilled to announce NSN’s 2020 Halloween Gala Tellers! Oct 30: MISCHIEF NIGHT Haunted Story Slam (6pm Central US Time) YOU! Prepare your best 5-min true personal “Haunted” story & throw your name in the hat! Storied Costume Contest (8pm Central US Time) YOU! (Again!) Don […]

The Atlantic   December 2019 by Lin-Manuel Miranda “ll art is political. In tense, fractious times—like our current moment—all art is political. But even during those times when politics and the future of our country itself are not the source of constant worry and anxiety, art is still political. Art lives in the world, and we […]

White Bear Press, White Bear, MN  Sept. 4, 2019 For the third year, the Many Faces – Many Stories collaboration returns to build community through storytelling. After exploring the history of the many groups of people who have called the White Bear Lake area home during the previous academic year, this year’s events will invite people […]

The Chronicle   August 9, 2019   Recently the N.C. Association of Black Storytellers event at the National Black Theatre Festival delighted their audience, from the  young children to the older adults. The North Carolina Association of Black Storytellers, Inc., (NCABS) a part of the National Black Storytellers Association, has the goal of keeping alive the […]

euroNEWS Reuters (Nairobi, Kenya)     December 17, 2018 “To have that storyteller in front of you with an audience being able to interact is something very precious that we are in danger of losing,” said Maimouna Jallow, who organised the one-day Re-Imagined Storytelling Festival in Kenya’s capital. Although written history has existed for centuries in […]

Ahval (Turkey)   December 16, 2018 A generation ago, when electricity came to Kurdish villages in Turkey,  storytelling by local bards gradually ended. However, two and a half years ago, in Diyarbakır, the Amîdart Kültür Sanat Bileşkesi (Amîdart Intersection of Culture and Art) was founded. Amîdart’s slogan is “no place but everywhere.” They  tell stories as well […]

The Epoch Times   October 26, 2018 By Jim Weiss   “I’d like to introduce you to two friends of mine. Their names are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.” That’s how I feel when I begin to tell a story. I consider these characters friends of mine, and I take great pleasure in introducing them to […]

The Chronicle   November 9, 2018 By Rini Jeffers VERMILION — Since the beginning of mankind, the art of storytelling has been a tradition, a socialization, a teaching tool, entertainment and a means of keeping history alive. But it is an art that seems to be slipping away, says professional storyteller Donna Kuczynski. An Amherst resident […]

The Parthenon   October 18, 2018 By Douglas Harding World-renowned storyteller, musician and West Virginia native Adam Booth participated in a Yeager Symposium and open dialogue with Marshall University students and Huntington residents Wednesday, Oct.17 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center Playhouse. Booth discussed Appalachian dialects and accents and how they can enhance storytelling. An […]

Isthmus   October 18, 2018 By Catherine Capellaro Nestor Gomez says he is the last person you’d expect to see sharing personal stories in front of a large crowd. “I used to stutter badly,” says Gomez, one of 10 storytellers who will perform at the annual Moth GrandSLAM Championship on Oct. 19 at the Barrymore Theatre. “My mother […]

Traverse City Record Eagle   October 12, 2018 By Brooke Kansier TRAVERSE CITY — A few minutes idling in the driveway end Matthew Soderquist’s daily commute. They’re the most gripping part of his week. The Vanderbilt resident and avid listener of “The Moth,” a storytelling radio program, can’t get enough of a good tale. It’s what drew […]

EverythingBrevard.com   October 12, 2018 By Lee Nessel Storytelling is powerful. It is among our earliest forms of communication, the original encyclopedia and the first form of school. To this day, it’s how we share history, exchange ideas and stimulate our imagination. Storytelling has evolved, yet stayed the same. Surely you’ve heard about the importance of storytelling […]

The Mining Journal   October 10, 2018 By Corey Kelly MARQUETTE — Pete Griffin, the Storytelling Ranger, spoke in front of a warm fire to a crowd in the Heritage Room of the Peter White Public Library Monday evening. Griffin told stories about the natural world, and the human one, by incorporating his experiences of growing up […]

The Taos News   October 11, 2018 By Tempo staff The way a story is told makes all the difference. It can simply entertain or help put a toddler to sleep, but when a story grabs you and pulls you into its world, engrossed in all its drama, comedy or pathos, it’s a story well- told. Stories […]

WTOP   October 10, 2018 By Rachel Nania WASHINGTON — There is no denying that cutting-edge equipment and pharmaceutical breakthroughs can help save lives — but so can a doctor trained in storytelling. Dr. Rita Charon is a Harvard-trained internist who practices general medicine. She is also a literary scholar who earned her Ph.D. studying the works […]

Telesurtv.net   October 9, 2018 Spoken word narrators from eight different countries will gather in Lima, capital of Peru, in the VII International Meeting of Oral Storytellers “Blessed be the word”, informed EFE referencing the North American Peruvian Cultural Institute (ICPNA), organizer of the. “Blessed be the word” will go from the 13th to the 20th of […]

WHNT NEWS 19 Athens, AL October 22, 2018   The 12th annual Athens, AL Storytelling Festival will have five days of events starting on Tuesday, Oct. 23.  It will include the 6th Annual Dan Williams Local Tellers Competition, two days of activities for students in the Tennessee Valley, plus 25 programs with five nationally renowned storytellers.

CBS News   April 23, 2018 By JEREMY BRADLEY Slow down. Talk. Listen. In a world of partisan politics and viral videos these concepts can feel like relics of a bygone era. But something’s happening in Vermont. In the hip art houses of Burlington, at serene coffee shops outside Montpelier and in cozy wooden theaters of rural […]

Times of India   October 7, 2018 Written by Ketaki Desai Priti Mutha was already struggling with post-partum depression when her father passed away unexpectedly. Her mind was full of thoughts she wanted to share but she had no one to talk to about. That’s when she came across The Narrative, a live and personal storytelling show based […]

The Meaford Independent   October 3, 2018 Written by Bill Monahan On November 3, the Meaford Culture Foundation will be presenting “an authentic entertainment experience ranging from the heartwarming to the hilarious,” with the Georgian Bay Story Slam Grand Finale. It represents the culmination of a series of Story Slams that have been held in small venues around […]

Park Rapids Enterprise   September 26, 2018 Sue Searing of Minneapolis won the Great American Story Saturday night after regaling the audience with her two original stories. The theme for the third annual contest was “connecting through storytelling.” The live performance was held at Calvary Lutheran Church. Since moving to Minnesota three years ago, Searing has appeared […]

The Sentinel   September 25, 2018   HANFORD — Bringing stories to life was what some volunteers and children did at the Children’s Storybook Garden Saturday. The Storybook Garden hosted its first-ever Storytelling Festival where children had the opportunity to listen and interact with several storytellers for a few hours at the garden. The Storybook Garden is […]

BBC News      May 21, 2018 Summary For the third year, BBC is asking people with disabilities to submit their personal stories for possible telling at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Those selected will work with a top comedy script producer, then perform their story at the Festival. The topic this year is “Going Out”. […]

Golden Valley resident draws international attention to the art of storytelling World Storytelling Day is March 20 By Megan Thorstad | New Hope Golden Valley Sun Post Summary: Golden Valley resident, Vietnam War veteran and retired teacher Larry Johnson has long been inspired by the art of oral storytelling. From his early years as a […]

Bereavement Care Journal, Volume 36, 2017 – Issue 3,   November 2, 2017 Summary: To Absent Friends (TAF) is an annual Scotland-wide participative festival of storytelling and remembrance. Its purpose is to reduce the social isolation of bereaved people, At TAF, people can remember,  tell stories,  celebrate and  reminisce about people they love who have died. TAF may be […]

The London Free Press (London, UK), November 3, 2016 Summary: The London Fringe’s Story Telling Festival debuts this Thursday through Saturday and includes: Author/filmmaker/recording artist Ivan Coyote Traditional storytellers Diane Halpin and Ellen Secci An Indigenous Walk in downtown London led by Jaime Koebel a free Children’s Storytelling Mob London Fringe producer Kathy Navackas said […]

The Edinburgh Reporter (Edinburgh, Scotland), October 10, 2015   Summary: The stranger is often a revealer of truth; his arrival casts a stone into the water, shakes us out of our complacency. But who is the stranger? What separates him from us – what makes him ‘strange’? The theme of the 2015 Scottish International Storytelling […]

Sierra Lodestar (San Andreas, CA), August 14, 2015   Summary: So truth be told, adults love stories as much as children. That’s the reasoning behind the program “For Adult Ears Only,” an event that’s in its 13th year. Every year in March, Tuolumne County residents can enjoy adult-themed stories. Now, please don’t read this to […]

Dubbo Photo News (Dubbo NSW, Australia), November 22, 2014   Summary: The performance of contemporary Aboriginal stories on the stages of regional theatres and performance spaces is not yet part of mainstream cultural programming. Yet, the expression of Aboriginal culture through storytelling has a history that far outdates Western culture, which makes its absence from […]

National Endowment for the Arts: Art Works Blog (Washington, DC), September 30, 2014 Summary: “When we bring people together to share stories, we create community. And that’s what happens at festivals, and that’s what I’m really interested in. It’s not the idea that when you come to a festival you listen to culture or that […]

The Vashon Loop (Vashon, WA), February 3, 2014 Summary: Vashon Wilderness Program will host its 7th annual Coyote Tales Storytelling Festival on Saturday, February 1 at the Open Space for Arts and Community on Vashon Island. Starting at 4pm, storytellers Allison Cox, Merna Hecht, Steffon Moody and Gene Tagaban will delight all with an imaginative […]

Orillia Today (Orillia, Ontario, Canada), October 24, 2013 Summary: One year after Orillia’s inaugural ‘Canadian Storytelling Night’ drew an audience of about 50 people to a downtown space for an evening of tales and songs, organizers are preparing a follow-up with a twist. “The idea is to create an annual event that can give storytellers […]

The Hindu (Chennai, India), February 14, 2013 Summary: Storytellers, professionals and performing artistes gathered at a village near Thanjavur to listen to traditional tales as part of the Chennai Storytelling Festival. There is no dearth of traditional stories in our country. But with the electronic media overtaking our lives and changing societal mores, the oral […]

The Laurinburg Exchange (Laurinburg, NC), January 22, 2013 Summary: Laurinburg is earning a name for itself as a haven for fib-tellers. That is to say, after hosting the sixth annual Bold-Faced Liars’ Showdown, the Storytelling and Arts Center of the Southeast has put Laurinburg on the map as a place for storytelling. “Between this and […]

The Daily Astorian (Portland, OR), November 9, 2012 Summary: When Back Fence PDX hosted its first live storytelling shows in 2008, the idea of standing up in front of your friends and neighbors to tell your most intimate and personal stories was a novelty to most Portlanders. “When we started, we got numerous emails from […]

londonist.com (London, UK), November 1, 2012 Summary: The Second Annual London Storytelling Festival is back next week, with a fantastic combination of comedians, poets and spoken word performers. John-Luke Roberts will tell his tale of a haunted sock, Rachel Rose Reid is digging underneath Hans Christian Andersen for the love stories we don’t quite hear, […]

PBS NEWSHOUR (Washington D.C.), October 5, 2012 Summary: The popularity of radio shows like PRI’s “This American Life” and groups like The Moth has put the art of a good yarn on the map for a wide, national audience. In urban centers like New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., it’s just as easy to find […]

NewCity Stage (Chicago, IL) , August 2, 2012 Summary: For Susan O’Halloran, professional storyteller and Chicago native, storytelling and racial justice have always been intertwined. O’Halloran grew up on the South Side in a time when public consensus still considered segregation a good thing. Her worldview, though, was crucially shaped by an early involvement with […]

NewCity Stage (Chicago, IL), August 2, 2012 Summary: For Susan O’Halloran, professional storyteller and Chicago native, storytelling and racial justice have always been intertwined. O’Halloran grew up on the South Side in a time when public consensus still considered segregation a good thing. Her worldview, though, was crucially shaped by an early involvement with the […]

The New York Times, Global Edition (New York, NY), July 24, 2012 Summary: In the 1800s, crowds regularly gathered on the steps of the Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi to enthusiastically watch a “dastango,” or storyteller, narrate tales of fantasy without props, music or theatrical action. The magic that held the audience was created […]

The New York Times, Global Edition (New York, NY), July 24, 2012 Summary: In the 1800s, crowds regularly gathered on the steps of the Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi to enthusiastically watch a “dastango,” or storyteller, narrate tales of fantasy without props, music or theatrical action. The magic that held the audience was created […]

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, […]

EdinburghGuide.com (Edinburgh, Scotland, UK), July 4, 2012 Summary: Scotland is a year-round festival nation, with exciting programmes of world-class events, festivals and cultures for all to enjoy. Through the Year of Creative Scotland, and evoking the remit of new collaborative group TRACS, the Scottish Storytelling Centre has expanded their July programme to present three weeks […]

The Yorker (Vanbrugh College, York, UK), June 28, 2012 Summary: Last weekend, the York Castle Museum played host to the York University Storytelling Festival. Eighteen English and Education students tucked away in a leafy glade in the gardens, armed with tales of murder and mystery and dinosaurs who learned to care, surrounded by groups of […]

Garner News (Wake and Johnston County, NC), March 20, 2012 Summary: On March 10, North Garner Middle School and the Garner Educational Foundation (GEF) teamed together for the ninth annual Garner Storytelling Festival. The festival hosted professional speakers including Willa Brigham, an Emmy award winner, Timmy and Susana Abell, John Golden and Cyndi Bailey Morgan. […]

Garner News (Wake and Johnston County, NC), March 20, 2012 Summary: On March 10, North Garner Middle School and the Garner Educational Foundation (GEF) teamed together for the ninth annual Garner Storytelling Festival. The festival hosted professional speakers including Willa Brigham, an Emmy award winner, Timmy and Susana Abell, John Golden and Cyndi Bailey Morgan. […]

The Gulf Today (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates), March 18, 2012 Summary: Committed to sharing the delight of traditional Arabic art forms with new generations of children and young people, the Abu Dhabi Festival’s Community Programme is hosting a range of workshops and performances focused on storytelling. Reviving the art of storytelling, as well as traditional […]

Winnipeg Free Press (Winnipeg, Canada) , May 6, 2009 Summary: Yarns, myths, folk tales, legends, fables, historical narratives and just plain stories are being shared today through Saturday at the fourth annual Winnipeg International Storytelling Festival. The free festival is presented by the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at St. Paul’s College, […]

DCist.com (Washington, DC), April 15, 2008 Summary: Ira Glass, creator and host of the weekly public radio story anthology This American Life, led an inspiring two-hour discussion of the techniques of storytelling as practiced by the staff of This American Life, and the reasons stories are so indispensable to our humanity. Glass observed that storytelling […]

DCist.com (Washington, DC), April 15, 2008 Summary: Ira Glass, creator and host of the weekly public radio story anthology This American Life, led an inspiring two-hour discussion of the techniques of storytelling as practiced by the staff of This American Life, and the reasons stories are so indispensable to our humanity. Glass observed that storytelling […]

The Shields Gazette (South Shields, UK) , April 15, 2008 Summary: As part of celebrations to mark World Storytelling Day, youngsters from St Bede’s RC Primary School, in Harold Street, Dunn Street Primary, in Staple Road, and Jarrow Cross CofE Primary, in Borough Road, were invited to Jarrow Library. Library assistant Carol Hall, the storyteller […]

San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA), January 17, 2008 Summary: Fray was launched in 1996 by Derek Powazek, at a time when most people found the concept of the Internet confusing and e-mail addresses a novelty. He envisioned it as a place where people could share real-life stories – his only rules were that they […]

Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME), June 3, 2007 Summary: Indonesia native Ina Demers, who came to the United States in 1974, was one of eight individuals presenting “Journey Stories” as part of the first-ever Bayside International Fair and Market. She described to the crowd the oppression her family faced, being Chinese in Indonesia in the […]

The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), March 7, 2006 Summary: The theme of this year’s Southern California Indian Storytelling Festival is “Bridging the Pacific with Story & Song,” and the event featured young and old storytellers from several tribes, including the Cahuilla, Kumeyaay, Chumash, Yokuts, Serrano, and Ohlone, as well as Owana Salaza, a Hawaiian who is […]

Union-Tribune (San Diego, CA), January 15, 2006 Summary: Wearing a ceremonial hat from the Ga people of West Africa, storyteller Alyce Smith Cooper captivated a crowd at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day multicultural festival. “There is a mystique that storytellers have, that draw people in,” said Jacki Taylor, coordinator of the festival. “This is […]

Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN), December 4, 2005 Summary: “Storytelling enlightens our community and makes people aware of our history,” said Deborah Asante, director of the Asante Children’s Theatre and host of Saturday’s 4th annual Haughville Story Fest. Saturday’s storytelling attracted about 100 people and featured three components: a speech from the Rev. Douglas Tate Sr. […]

The Journal News.com (Westchester, NY), July 10, 2005 Summary: In the African tradition, libations were poured to the north, south, east and west to begin the second annual African Diaspora Festival yesterday at the CEJJES Institute. The event, presented by the institute in conjunction with Naomi’s Program of Excellence, celebrated the arts of Africa. “What […]

Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales, UK), April 18, 2005 Summary: THE art of the storyteller is set to be reinvigorated with the launch of a new festival in West Wales today. And it is hoped the event will help introduce families who have recently moved to the rural areas of Ceredigion, to the breadth of culture […]

Providence Journal (Providence, RI), January 20, 2005 Summary: The seventh annual Funda Fest: A Celebration of Black Storytelling is under way. It began Tuesday in schools around Rhode Island and continues tomorrow through Sunday with public performances in a variety of venues, from Woonsocket to Providence, and in New Bedford. In all, there will be […]