Press Play to hear Michael Reno Harrell speak about American Folk Music and it’s effect on American Storytelling Community on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Michael Reno Harrell Writes… People like to be talked to. Well, if you have something interesting to say, they do. It’s in our genes. All of mankind’s knowledge was passed on through storytelling until very recently as things go. And it’s a good bet that music started out as a part of that storytelling at about the same time. The two are as closely intertwined as fishing and talking about fishing. Read more »
Press Play to hear Jimmy Neil Smith about the future of the International Storytelling on the Art of Storytelling Center with Brother Wolf.
Photo Courtesy of Fresh Air Photo
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Jimmy Neil Smith
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The Future of the International Storytelling Center
Jimmy Neil Smith writes…
In the early 1990s, I attended a conference of the Tennessee Arts Commission in nearby Johnson City. During the session, potter Bill Strickland spoke about the arts-based Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center in inner-city Pittsburgh an institution, founded by Strickland, that teaches low-income, inner-city youths an employment skill.
Strickland spoke eloquently about his institution and its program. His address was stirring and powerful. Then, as a closing, Strickland said, “I challenge each of you to go home and build an institution that confirms and makes real what you know.”
Strickland’s challenge inspired me.
Less than a year later, the National Storytelling Association announced the development of what would become the International Storytelling Center the organization’s first permanent home in 30 years and a “launching pad” for a series of national and international programs, products, and services.
It was Strickland’s challenge that would give birth to the institution that has become the International Storytelling Center. The Center campus now composed of the elegant Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, Historic Center Inn, and the Storytelling Read more »
Press Play to hear Dr. Sherry Norfolk speak on why would should use storytelling in school settings on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Why storytelling should be in Schools.
Sherry Norfolk Writes…
Last year, I taught a 3rd grade storytelling and creative writing residency in St Louis. The kids I worked with were typical – meaning that every child was different from every other child. They each had unique interests, skills and abilities. They each had different life experiences and different needs. Typical class, right? So; what? Why am I telling you about these typical kids?
Because they WERE typical! Because in that class, there were some kids who HATED to write and some kids who NEVER paid attention in class and some kids who HATED to get up in front of people for any Read more »
Press Play to hear Doug Elliot talk about using storytelling to support nature based education on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Sharing the Passion of Nature through Storytelling.
Doug Elliot Writes…
How do you find a story in nature (or anywhere else for that matter)? I often start with an incident, an encounter, a problem or a question-something happens to you, you meet someone, see something, or you wonder about something. The narrative I tell is my journey of investigation, trying to figure it out.
The incident is your hook, not only to your listeners when you’re storytelling, but also to yourself as an explorer and an investigator. Then I let my curiosity be my guide. I start asking questions. Any journalist will tell you your ability to get a good story is often directly related to your ability to ask good questions. The first and probably the ultimate resource is yourself. How do/did I relate to that incident, encounter, problem or question? How did I feel?
The next step might be an initial resolution concerning Read more »
Press Play to hear Kim Weitkamp speak about reaching troubled youth through storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Reaching Troubled Youth through Storytelling.
Kim Weitkamp writes… For 15 years I saw first hand the amazing power of story. The right story deposited at the right time is like a time release capsule. I cannot count how many times one of the teens that I was working with would come back to me, after I told them a story, and they’d say, “Hey, you know that story you told me the other day? Well, I’ve been thinking about it.
When I would hold group discussions, a story would bring together opposing sides. When I was digging into a person’s heart, trying gently to unearth the pain that was causing them to act out in anger, a story would be the trowel. When I looked into the angry hurting eyes of teen, a story would prove to them that I Read more »
Press Play to hear Bil Lepp who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on How to Lie and not get Caught on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Bio: Bil Lepp is a nationally renowned storyteller and five time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest. His outrageous, humorous tall-tales and witty stories have earned the appreciation of listeners of all ages and from all walks of life. From elementary school to veterans’ homes, from churches to colleges, from festivals to formal dinners. Though a champion liar, his hilarious, insightful stories often contain morsels of truth which shed light on subjects such as politics, religion, death, relationships, and human nature. An award winning storyteller, author, and recording artist, Lepp’s release, The Teacher in the Patriotic Bathing Suit, received the Parent’s Choice Approved award, and Mayhem Dressed as an Eight Point Buck won a 2008 NAPPA Honors award. Lepp has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and at major storytelling and corporate events across the country. Says Bill, Everywhere I Read more »
Press Play to hear David Novak who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on storyteller’s compass using narrative as guide on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
“I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies
I saw boys, toys, electric irons and T.V.’s
My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there”
David Bowie, Five Years
I’m dreaming about a legless blind man when the radio alarm wakes me. In the short time it takes me to crawl to the bureau to turn off the radio (an arrangement designed to get me out of bed) I hear the DeeJay tell me that 5% of men surveyed admitted to wearing women’s underwear. I drift to the kitchen to feed the cat and dog and pour the coffee and juice. I go to the front door to collect the morning paper which informs me of the multimillion dollar judgement against O.J. and of an area magnet school which teaches children how to play the bagpipes. By the time I step back inside, my son is awake and Darkwing Duck is “getting dangerous” on the TV. I’ve been awake for less than 30 minutes and already I’m drowning in a sea of information, images and stories.
The day is far from finished. Everything is far from finished. I feel like my life is in the hands of an insomniac channel-surfer: unfinished stories in constant collision with one another adding up to one story: life today. It is all so scatterbrained. I worry: what am I adding to the noise as a voice telling stories in the thick of all this? Who am I to enter the fight for everyone’s attention? What is the point of storytelling in the technologically determined culture of today?
Exo-Brain
Technology enhances us: clothes enhance skin, glasses enhance eyes, wheels enhance walking. Such enhancements extend our physical bodies outward. Our techno-bodies can “see,” “hear,” and “reach” farther than our bio-bodies. We technologically express our Read more »
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Arts blog
July 2, 2010 3:58 pm | 
