I began telling stories as a member of an acting ensemble in 1976, presenting storytelling as a major part of our repertoire. We worked primarily in park and recreation centers and schools. As members moved away or went into other fields, we evolved into‐ and I cofounded ‐ the Black Storytellers Alliance (BSA) in direct response to the demand for storytelling to deliver the inspirational and cultural lessons embodied in our stories.
Early on I encouraged members of the audience to share the storytelling space by becoming a part of the story and one of the characters in the story. On many occasions, I was unable to use all the audience members who wanted to participate! It was wonderful to have so many trying to Read more »
Here is a list of ideas for starting a storytelling festival in your school or your community.
Ways to get it started. (You pick which one you want to start with.)
• Find a few teachers and/or parents and offer to tell a story in the teachers’ classrooms. Start suggesting the idea that students can also retell or Read more »
Written by Gail N. Herman c. 2009 Nowhere in the profession of theatre arts is the phrase, “A willing suspension of disbelief” more necessary than in the telling of tall tales and lies (better known as whoppers). Each member of the audience has to be willing expend the effort to create in their mind’s eye a visual image of the actions of the characters in order to “get it.” Once they do, they are hooked. Storytellers use everything they can to Read more »
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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 Anne Glover speak about Finding Your Authentic Voice in Storytelling on the Art of Storytelling.
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Finding your Authentic Storytelling Voice.
Anne Glover writes….
Here are two things I feel passionately about in storytelling: authentic voice, and connection to the audience. They are closely intertwined. Some people think “authentic voice” means “no character voices.” If you’ve heard my dialogues with the character “Monkey,” you know that I use character voices, particularly for comedic episodes, as Eric learned when he interviewed me. (Have you recovered yet, Eric?) But when I use those other voices, I make a clear distinction in my voice, my brain, and my body between the character and my narrator.
As both a performer and a listener, I prefer a natural voice for the narrator persona. Sometimes as tellers, we think we need to be doing “more.” We alter our voice, add more breath, and drop to a different register, as if “storytelling” required something other than our true selves. It doesn’t. In fact, it demands that each of us bring our true self to the fore, without letting our ego get in the way of the story. This requires that we constantly watch ourselves and our deep intentions, with ferocious honesty.
Sometimes we get so wrapped in the notion that storytelling requires a special voice, that we get in the way of the story. Some people want to know how to “find” their authentic voice. Here’s a technique I like. I might say, for instance, Read more »
Press Play to hear Elisa Pearmain speak about a Teaching Forgiveness through storytelling on the Art of Storytelling.
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Teaching Forgiveness through storytelling.
Written by Elisa Pearmain…
Forgiveness is central to the success of relationships, and is an integral part of the emotional, spiritual and even physical healing process, and yet it is poorly understood. Forgiveness offers an opportunity to look at and relate to our stories of wounding in new ways. It calls us to see those who have hurt us with more complexity and empathy. It guides us to forgive ourselves, to untangle ourselves from wounding experiences and the role of victim, and ultimately to live more fully. Stories and storytelling work can help us to understand forgiveness more deeply, and to traverse the forgiveness process with more support and imagination.
In this podcast Elisa Pearmain focused on forgiveness for individuals rather than reconciliation between people or groups of people. She shared a few stories that illustrate aspects of the forgiveness process in action. She discussed some of her personal experiences with forgiveness. She shared some of her observations of the forgiveness process in her therapy practice, and how often at bottom we discover the need to forgive ourselves. Elisa discussed how retelling personal experience in folk and fairy tale can help in this healing process and how the “narrative reframing” or “shifts in perspective” are at the heart of forgiveness, and various techniques for shifting story perspectives she Read more »
Press Play to hear Kevin Strauss speak about applying storytelling to environmental science on the Art of Storytelling.
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Applying Storytelling to Environmental Science.
Written by Kevin Strauss… Introduction:
“Environmental Storytelling” has become a popular subset of the storytelling world, but until recently, there was little agreement about what it was or how to do it. In this Blog follow-up to my interview on the Storytelling With Brother Wolf, I provide a definition for “environmental storytelling,” describe what makes a good nature or environmental story, and give some resources for environmental stories.
What Is Environmental Storytelling?
Environmental storytelling is the act of using live narrative performance to teach an audience about the natural world, how it Read more »
Press Play to hear Tim Tingle speaking about the historical perspective of Native American storytelling. on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Tim Tingles Bio.
Tingle is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a sought-after speaker and storyteller, and an award-winning author of Native American fiction and folklore. Choctaw Chief Gregory Pyle has requested a story by Read more »
Press Play to hear Ed Stivender speak on the 5 Fool proof Rules for Successful Storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
In reviews of his performances, Ed Stivender has been called “the Robin Williams of storytelling” and “a Catholic Garrison Keillor”. Now, Ed — Philadelphia native, Shakespearean actor, banjo player, teacher, theologian, Mummer, dreamer, juggler, and raconteur — has put together a program in which he shares the techniques that have made him one of the most honored and sought-after storytellers of our day.
Since 1977, when he left his day job as a high school teacher in Connecticut and turned to storytelling full-time, Ed has fabulated his way around the globe –appearing in schools, churches, coffeehouses and theaters, as well as at major storytelling festivals. He has been a featured performer at the National Storytelling Festival, the Cape Clear Island International Storytelling Festival in Ireland, Graz Festival, Austria and our own Philadelphia Folk Festival. Ed enjoyed narrating: “Paddington Bears Special Day” with Read more »
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Storyteller Contact Information
Brother Wolf Storytelling
Eric James Wolf
P.O. Box 711
Yellow Springs, Ohio. 45387
(937) 767-8696
Some overseas storytellers and storytelling presenters have found email to be blocked by spam filters. If you wish, you can also reach me in a few days at
January 10, 2010 4:58 pm | 
