The stories on this site were recorded at the National Storytelling Conference or StoryNight.
All stories are the property of the respective storytellers. No replication is permitted.
A Story
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by Omope Carter Daboiku Click to Listen: daboiku About the Story The same weekend I was performing this story at the National Storytelling Conference, I was also moving into my new home, starting a brand new phase of my life. … Continue reading
The Big Melon
by Mountain Man Bob Click to Listen MountainBob In 1996 I wanted and needed a tall tale story. My vivid imagination went to work and that’s how I came up with the idea to grow a big watermelon. This story … Continue reading
Scat Rap
by Doug Elliott Click to listen elliott The Scat Rap was first created in 1988 at a “Music and the Environment” workshop at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, Tennessee by a group of naturalists, including Andy Bennett, Mary … Continue reading
Jump Rope Kingdom
Told by Mary Hamilton Click to Listen hamilton-jumprope About the Story Many years ago, while sitting at the kitchen table of my storytelling friend and colleague Cynthia Changaris, I told her I felt it was way too easy for me … Continue reading
Ballinamuck
told by Yvonne Healy Click to Listen healy Family was a blue envelope crinkly thin as onion skin. My mother sliced it with a butter knife careful to preserve the criss-crossed messages of love held inside. My uncle was the … Continue reading
His True Name
told by Jo Walter Listen to story His True Name came from a NonViolent Communication workshop via Marcia Christen. Her version tells of the boy’s “song”, but somehow I remembered it as his “name”. It makes me think of the … Continue reading
Shmuley the Shlemiel
told by Judy Sima Listen to the story I have always loved “Obedient Jack” and “Epaminondas,” but they didn’t feel like stories I could tell. Then one day, as luck would have it, it came to me – what I … Continue reading
No Time for a ParTAY
told by Linda Gorham Listen to story Many years ago, I heard Elizabeth Ellis tell her story, Grandmother Spider. As she told it, I got an amazing visual of the action and I imagined how the story could be told … Continue reading
The Forbidden Souped Up Sled Ride
told by Kim Weitkamp Click to listen to story by Kim Weitkamp I was commissioned by a museum to write a Christmas story for their gingerbread house exhibit. Fun or what? So, I thought to myself, when I was a … Continue reading
The Selkie and the Fisherman
Told by Kyle Kissell Listen to story Originally composed for a variety show while I was a member of the Medieval and Renaissance Performers Guild at OSU, I tasked myself with creating a tragedy to contrast with the primarily comedic … Continue reading
A Dollar A Minute
Told by Pam Holcomb Listen to the story It was a privilege to be chosen as one of the Showcase Performers for the 2012 National Storytelling Network Conference. It was an indeed an honor, however humbling, to get to tell … Continue reading
The Singing Man
Told by Gwen Hilary Listen to story This story represents to me the power and overwhelming impact of storytelling in the lives of tellers and communities blessed to hear them. It reveals the journey that many professional tellers have to … Continue reading
God’s Week Off
Told by Tom Sparough Listen to story My story is humorous, visually stunning, and truly uplifting. It blends the skills of juggling and storytelling. It is a bit strange to listen to it without seeing it, but in some ways … Continue reading
Uncle Ames
Told by Octavia Sexton Listen to story I hate Appalachian stereotyping, but after traveling across the country I realize we are different – but not in the ignorant way we are often portrayed. We are rooted in traditions and moral … Continue reading
A Pretty Good First Year
Told by Patricia Coffie Listen to story Family stories are the stories I tell and this one had been in the making for a long time. Two Rivers Story Spinners in Des Moines, Iowa arranged a retreat to be led … Continue reading
Acme Tattoo Parlor
Told by Barbara Schutzgruber Listen to story How many of us no longer have all the parts we were born with? The loss of ‘parts’, whether by accident or intention, is part of the human experience: we hear about it … Continue reading
Pie
Told by Jim Stowell Listen to story Pie is a part of a one-man play I wrote and performed titled Traveling Light at the Brass Tacks Theater in Minneapolis. The play was filmed live in a stand of six grain … Continue reading
Ikkyu-san
told by Jonatha and Harold Wright Hear the story Harold and I took Antioch College students for a semester of study in Japan each year, 1992 through 2005. Also we were involved with the Kyoto Seika Students who came to … Continue reading
Ole Man Mac and The Bear Family
Told by Garry McCandless Hear the story After listening to storytellers Cynthia Changaris and Mandy Dick tell stories at the Lou Tate Foundation, The Little Loomhouse’ “Spin A Yarn Storytelling Festival” in Louisville, Kentucky, I was inspired to go home … Continue reading
The Giant’s Heart
Told by Cathy Jo Smith Hear the story A few years ago at a fall festival, I came across a booth selling carved stones. I picked up a lovely jade-green heart and showed it to my husband. “I bet you … Continue reading
Adventure and Romance
Told by Sally Crandall Hear the story It took Nelson and I four years, at the ages of 63 and 67, to get ourselves into the Peace Corps and three months for me to decide that we needed to get … Continue reading
First Roller Coaster – Taking The Ride of my Life
Told by Kevin Cordi Hear the story At 16 we think we can rule the world. This is a tender age when we cross the divide into responsibility. This story is about that journey. It is about the first time … Continue reading
Stay Out of Them Old Cars / Living in the Country
Told by Michael Reno Harrell Listen to story Shared at NSN’s 2009 National Story Night, Michael combines story and song to paint the picture of growing up in East Tennessee/Western North Carolina. About Michael Michael Reno Harrell is one of … Continue reading
Colorless Love
Told by Molly Catron Listen to story This story is a family story. Mama Evelyn was my grandmother’s best friend. She was quite a bit older than my Nanny. She and her family lived just across a corn field. The … Continue reading
African Wisdom and Wonder: My Visit w/Baba Mutwa
by Valerie Tutson Listen to story I had returned to the States after 5 weeks in South Africa. I received a fellowship from the Rhode Island Foundation to explore storytelling in South Africa. This was a thrill. I had made … Continue reading
Lifting the Sky
Told by Yvonne Young Listen to story I chose to tell “Lifting the Sky” at the Pacific Showcase Concert to honor deceased Skagit elder Vi Hilbert. Some years ago, I had the privilege of hearing Vi tell this tale. The … Continue reading
Great Grieving Goddess
told by David LeBarron Listen to story I had so much fun at the NSN conference and was glad to be able to perform this story. I was nervous about taking my own spin on a classic, which has always … Continue reading
Who Has Seen the Mind?
Told by Willy Claflin Listen to story My dad got this all started – he told me stories every single night from about age 3 to 10. This is my favorite story about my dad, told at the 2010 National … Continue reading
The Green Market
Told by Rick Huddle Listen to story I really appreciate that, when I’m working on a story, I usually learn something about myself. For this one, it was how much self esteem that I got from being a “good kid.” … Continue reading
Sir George and the Dragon
Told by Randel McGee & Groark Listen to story In Western Culture, the story of “Sir George and the Dragon” is THE quintessential dragon tale of a daring knight, a lovely maiden in distress, and a monstrous dragon. Since Groark, … Continue reading
Big White Pushka
Told by Karen Golden Listen to story This story was published in Nice Jewish Girls: Growing Up In America in 1996 and is one of my favorite personal stories to tell. All the characters have passed away with the exception … Continue reading
Uncle Cleo and the Word the Devil Made Up
by Kirk Waller Listen to story Uncle Cleo means a lot to me for many reasons. Each time I tell and hear the story, it reminds me of all of the people in my life that have introduced me to … Continue reading
Rindercella
By Mary Hamilton Listen to story I’m far from the first to tell “Rindercella” a Spoonerized “Cinderella.” For years it held no appeal whatsoever. To me, “Rindercella” seemed like a memorized fixed text being recited rather than told. Me, memorize … Continue reading
Blue Lightning, an essentially true Gerrell Family Story
by Saundra G. Kelley Listen to story My dad was 10-years-old when his father died. Left with two sons, three daughters, an overworked farm and a herd of Spanish cattle, the family worked hard to survive. The hurricane season after … Continue reading
The Fighter Pilot
by Steven Henegar Listen to story I grew up under the flight path of a large mid-western air base. So, our perpetual neighborhood baseball games were wrapped in the sounds of bombers landing and laced with the shadows of fighter … Continue reading
Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnall
told by Elaine Muray Listen to story I was introduced to this story via the preamble to it as told by “The Wife of Bath” of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. When I performed at the Australian Storytelling Festival in 2005, … Continue reading
The Enchanted Song of the Magical Bird
Told by Ina Buckner-Barnette Listen to story I fell in love with this story because it reminds us to be teachable and to value the child inside. Both ideas play a big part of my core belief system. About Ina … Continue reading
Lion’s Minister of State
told by Mike Lockett Listen to story The story originates in India. My telling is a kicked up version of a traditional Indian Folktale. My telling includes both poetry and prose, along with special vocal sound effects that I add … Continue reading
Barney McCabe
told by Karen Rae Kraut Listen to story Back in 1991 I heard this story sung by Sam Hinton, the extraordinary naturalist, oceanographer, folklorist and folk singer based in San Diego, California. Sam learned it from Guy Carawan, who learned … Continue reading
Sheherazade
told by Mary Garrett Listen to story Sheherazade is my hero. This is my favorite story and one of the first I learned to tell. If only we could solve more problems with story, what a great world this would … Continue reading
Wisdom or Luck
told by Michael Litzky Listen to story I adapted this from a story in the Pantheon collection Yiddish Folktales by Beatrice Weinreich. I love the “story within a story within a story” structure. I added a subtle twist to the … Continue reading
Taking a Leap in the Southern Hemisphere
told by Connie Regan-Blake Listen to story It was great fun bringing this true life adventure to the stage. I have done a good bit of traveling – (47 states and 16 countries so far – but who’s counting!) and … Continue reading
The Boy Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was
told by Bill Ratner Listen to story I was nervous. I was booked at the 2010 NSN Conference to tell The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was. It was my first Conference. I come … Continue reading
Not Our Problem
told by Rona Leventhal Listen to story I love this story! I have told it for many years, mostly to adult audiences, sometimes to school and family groups. I also frequently use it in teacher workshops, both to look at … Continue reading
The C.C. Camp
told by Jeff Gere Listen to story The introduction to this story is a story. As the City & County of Honolulu’s Drama Specialist, I tell and hear stories in Senior Centers regularly. I heard this tale, The C. C. … Continue reading
Clothes, the Klan, and a Close Call
told by Jane Hauser Listen to story This is a true story that happened in 1957 in North Carolina after the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education decision that foreshadowed the end of segregation in the South. But parts … Continue reading
The Itinerant Storyteller
Told by Ruth Stotter Listen to story Why do we tell stories? What does our audience want from their storytelling experience? How do we prepare and perform our stories? This modified Zen story tries to address some of these questions … Continue reading