Sparks and Brush Strokes: What Storytellers Can Learn from Emily Dickinson
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by Jay O’Callahan Emily Dickinson was an artist who worked at her craft as we storytellers do. She worked with metaphor, cadence, rhythm, rhyme, character and shape. One critic called her a primitive in that she saw everything as if … Continue reading
Accessing the Creative Spirit through Professional Improv Techniques
by Karla Huntsman When I was growing up, and even in my college years, before I answered a question in a classroom, I pre-planned exactly what I was going to say and when I answered, carefully followed the script in … Continue reading
Storytelling and Critical Thinking
by Charles Temple Storytelling can teach by imparting truths. But storytelling can also teach by inviting people to think for themselves and create their own truths. When people come up with interpretations and support them with reasons, they are doing … Continue reading
Bay Area Storytelling Festival Study Trip-2013
by Gini Cunningham-Baefsky Recipient NSN Spotlight Grant If you ask any De Anza, Pinole Valley or Hercules High School Interact Service Club student what their most important educational experience has been to date, they are likely to tell you (in … Continue reading
Campus Slammer
by Carolyn Stearns There was a long hushed pause before a young woman began to speak; her story spilled out. She heard strange voices, muffled and distant, the eerie lights coming in the windows, the glow of eyes outside peeking … Continue reading
The Storyteller
By Susanna Holstein The school visit was all that I wanted it to be: well planned, well received, a joyful, thoughtful sharing of stories and songs with over 500 children, parents and teachers. It was an affirmation of what I … Continue reading
Appreciations…for Anthony
by Mark Goldman To the logical, pragmatic, no-nonsense, Type-A personality that I am, the concept of appreciations in storytelling was initially lost on me. Appreciations felt like a “nicey-nicey-fluff-give-them-positive-first-but-doesn’t-help-teach-them-or-move-them-to-change” process. Why not just tell them what they need to change? … Continue reading
Why we need fairy tales
By Laura Packer The recent resurgence in fairy-tale based media, such as movies (Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty), TV shows (Once Upon a Time, Grimm), literature (Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Bill Willingham, and others), and games (The Path) makes it … Continue reading
200 Years of the Brothers Grimm: Profiling a Successful Event
By Katie Knutson In the New Voices column in Storytelling Magazine, I have been focusing on making connections between the storytellers we often see at NSN events and the younger adult tellers out there, who do not find their way … Continue reading
Mentoring – It’s all about the Food
by Lauretta Phillips I am making a New Year To Do list. No resolutions. They get buried in the pile on my desk to make me feel guilty later. 2012 went by so quickly that I find myself reflecting back … Continue reading
Power of Art?!?!
by David Claunch I have recently been fascinated with the concept of the “Now.” Eckhart Tolle has written several books on the subject with thought provoking statements like: “Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the … Continue reading
Chinese Teahouse Telling
By Cathryn Fairlee My Master’s Thesis in History was on Professional Chinese Teahouse Telling and I presented samples of these styles at the NSN conference in Cincinnati. Professional storytelling was passed on orally from master to apprentice for generations, for … Continue reading
Making Stories, Making Meaning with People with Dementia
by Liz Nichols Have you ever walked in to a nursing home, assisted living residence or adult day care center with a bag full of stories and a heart full of hesitation? Or dare I say dread? Or, do you … Continue reading
Dungeons, Dragons and Storytellers
by Zalka Csenge Virág Zalka was our New Voices guest writer for the 4th quarter issue of Storytelling Magazine. Her article is posted here to inspire a place for discussion and follow-up. Comments encouraged! Many people see role-playing games (RPGs) … Continue reading
Beyond Words – lessons from a non-English speaker
By Noa Baum A young storyteller came up after a performance and said to me: “I was so moved, your story was so expressive, I could never tell like you!” I remembered feeling like that… I grew up in Israel … Continue reading
Bubbles on Subways, Free Hugs and Superhero Big Wheel Races
by Kristin Pedemonti Joy is contagious in a good way. Whether it’s Blowing bubbles on Subways, offering Free Hugs, or sharing Stories world wide that connect culture; I seek to build bridges between people, to illustrate we are more similar … Continue reading
The Heroes in Our Lives: Celebrating the Goodness in Humanity with the MY HERO Project
By Sara Armstrong Who are your heroes? Do you consider yourself one? How important is it for children to believe they can perform heroic acts and make a difference in the world? Inspiring stories, short films, and artwork focusing on … Continue reading
Front-Porch “Twitter”: The Importance of Face-to-Face Story-Sharing
In celebration of the one year anniversary of the NSN blog, we invite you to enjoy the very first posting we had, from Lyn Ford. by Lyn Ford A young student in a story-sharing / story-writing workshop that had … Continue reading
The Impact of Exclusivity
By Katie Knutson Katie Knutson is our New Voices chairperson who shares her articles for Storytelling Magazine on our blog to inspire a place for discussion and follow-up. Comments encouraged! Storytelling is the most effective tool I have found for … Continue reading
Inheriting the Life of the Party
by Adam Booth I recently attended a garden party in Cleveland to celebrate my friend Sarah’s musicology doctoral graduation. She has spent the past few years studying Anne Botta, a 19th century salonnière whose New York home was an important … Continue reading
Passionate Conversations
By Laura Simms I organized a salon series called PASSIONATE CONVERSATIONS - The Power of Storytelling. The first took place May 20th. Two Australian storytellers were in the city: CAROLINE JOSEPHS and DONNA JACOBS SIFE. They swept us up in a storied palaver … Continue reading
A duck walks into a bar…
by Sarah Beth Nelson When I was working in the children’s area of a public library there were two sisters who befriended me and who came to the library once or twice a week. One day, when only the older … Continue reading
Our Lives in Fairy Tales
by Mary Grace Ketner Between “Once upon a time” and “happily ever after,” each fairy tale presents a brilliant metaphor for one stage of life. In the course of a fairy tale, the protagonist leaves a state of innocence to … Continue reading
Evidence of the Original Sources of Humor
by Andy Offutt Irwin For my contribution to the NSN Blog, I am much too lazy to offer anything different than what I am already working on, which at this time is a book on humor theory. E.B. White wrote, … Continue reading
Just One Piece of the Puzzle: Storytelling for Bullying Prevention
by Sue Black After a recent storytelling program for bullying prevention, a boy broke out of the line exiting the school gym, ran up to me with a smile, and said, “Mrs. Black, thank you! Maybe this will make a … Continue reading
Literary Storytelling
by Carol Birch One fall I requested permission to perform Truman Capote’s “A Thanksgiving Visitor.” The representative agreed with the proviso that not a word be changed – an impossible request. The text required editing. In this case the editing … Continue reading
A Story About the Power of Story
by Sherry Norfolk I spend most of my professional life in the classroom. Storytelling allows me to work with kids of all ages and skill levels, in a huge variety of settings, for a multitude of purposes. Each classroom offers … Continue reading
Sweeping Ashes for the Witch
by Regina Ress Living from within myth and fairytale, looking with a metaphoric eye, life’s lessons are deeply experienced and learned. Recently I spent two months volunteering for Fundacion Arte del Mundo, an arts and literacy center in the Andean … Continue reading
Identity Theft: the Leprechaun
By Yvonne Healy What is more Irish than storytelling? American audiences often request stories about one particular Irish character. They visualize a little man dressed in spring’s color with a matching green top hat, jacket and shoes with big buckles … Continue reading
Storytelling: Community through… Competition?
by Katie Knutson Chances are that your path to storytelling and mine are quite different. Maybe you were a part of the storytelling revival of the 1970’s; maybe you discovered storytelling within another career path; or, maybe you started as … Continue reading
Headcount
by Dolores Hydock A friend of mine teaches fourth grade in a public school. They were doing a section on theatre, and she asked me to talk to her class about acting. When I got there, I heard about the … Continue reading
Hidden Memory: From Family History Project To Performance Piece
by Anne Shimojima In my family, we never told stories about the past – what it was like for my grandparents to sail from Japan to the United States, the early days in Oregon with the family grocery store, the … Continue reading
New Ways To See Ourselves As Storytellers?
by Doug Lipman Can you remember when you first made the connection between yourself and the word “storyteller”? Maybe you had been telling stories already – but hadn’t known there was such a profession? Maybe you saw a performer who … Continue reading
Raising Voices: Working with Youth Storytellers
by Judy Sima There is no greater joy than seeing a child’s face shine in the light of your words as you tell a story. There is no greater satisfaction than watching your passion for storytelling grow in the lives … Continue reading
Marketing – It’s Not a Myth!
by Karen Chace Storytellers share wonderful tales and offer amazingly creative shows, but do they have great marketing behind them? We lament the lack of attendance at venues, yet many times I receive an e-mail publicizing an event that is … Continue reading
Be Thoughtful and Real: The Keys to a Successful Interview
By Syd Lieberman A good interview begins with making your interviewee comfortable. Let him pick the place where the interview will take place and where he wants to sit. Some people feel nervous about being interviewed. If so, have your … Continue reading
Puppet Play: Engaging children’s imaginations
by Mary Jo Huff The storyteller has arrived and the children are getting ready for a special treat. Sitting on the floor with their legs twisted like a pretzel, eyes wide and fidgety fingers the pre-schoolers are all ready for … Continue reading
Fairy Tales for Grownups
by Megan Hicks One of my storyteller friends told me I should write about how to make fairy tales interesting enough for adults to enjoy. Here’s my quick and dirty recipe for success: Leave the story alone and tell it … Continue reading
Live the Story! Breathing Life into Tales
by Leeny Del Seamonds “Live the Story!” That’s been my motto for 24+ years. This catchphrase is throughout my website and is part of my signature. I strive to apply it to my body of work as a performer and … Continue reading
Hiding in Plain Site: The Storyteller as an Introvert
By Slash Coleman From the Series: Finding Your Business Comfort Zone My friend owns a comedy club where she occasionally performs. One night, thinking I’d be a “shoe-in” for funny, she pulled me on stage as part of her act. … Continue reading
Your Story – Pass it Along!
By Linda Goodman Personal and family stories fascinate me. Why are they so special? First, they preserve family heritage. Family gatherings produce treasure troves of stories to be passed along from generation to generation. When my family gets together, storytelling … Continue reading
Traditional Tales and the Modern Teller
by Rafe Martin For tellers today, traditional tales are like a form of classical music. The patterns are known and resonant. In so many ways our work will naturally – whether we know it or not—reflect back to these oldies … Continue reading
Storytelling House Concerts?
by Michael Reno Harrell I’ve been singing songs and telling stories to audiences longer than seems possible; and making a living at it which has at times has seemed impossible. Traveling in these two worlds, music and storytelling, I find … Continue reading
Transitions in Eloquence
By Antonio Rocha I am a teller who comes from a silent tradition. Once, all I did was tell through body language as a mime artist. One of the most important aspects of this silence performing art form is the … Continue reading
Front-Porch “Twitter”: The Importance of Face-to-Face Story-Sharing
by Lyn Ford A young student in a story-sharing / story-writing workshop that had been organized specifically for “gifted and talented” students hung back from those who rushed to their lunches. He never looked directly at me; he shuffled his … Continue reading