Press Play to hear Ben Nind speaking on how Storytelling is Essential to Community Health and Life on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Storytelling Is Essential to Community Health and Life.
Do we really have to justify why this is so? Are we so removed from ourselves as purveyors of stories that we actually need to rationalize, in some manner or form – why storytelling is essential? This is an odd question because it means that I have to somehow divorce story from the human experience and that is an impossible task.
The glue that holds all of the pieces together is story past, present and future. Birth, marriage, divorce, life, death, addiction, celebration, grief and victory are woven with stories in every window and door that we pass in our day to day existence. Without stories there is no community, there is no activity and the world is just one big cold ball of rock hurling through the blackness of space.
Is storytelling essential to community life? Say no more. Just listen and let me tell you a 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 Community Park—opened in June of 2002.
Through the work of ISC, we are seeking to confirm and make real what we know about storytelling—the ancient tradition that is as old as humankind yet as modern as this morning’s headlines. Now, in 2010, ISC is launching an Read more »
Press Play to hear Michal Malinowski speaking on the Storytelling Museum of Poland on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
A storyteller – shaman from Altay in Siberia at the festival of Intangible Heritage organized by the Storytelling Museum.
Interview #094
Michal Malinowski
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The Storytelling Museum of Poland
Michal Malinowski writes… The Storyteller Museum is a unique institution devoted to the collection, preservation and promotion of oral heritage from all over the world. Our mission is to save the vanishing examples of intangible treasures, acquaint new generations with the oral tradition of a variety of cultures and revive the custom of storytelling. Nonetheless, our attention is also devoted not only to tribal storytelling but also to contemporary trends in oral expression. The Museum has been the leading place in Poland to developed the storytelling revival movement. We have organized Storytelling Festivals and workshops in our location and other places in the country
The Storyteller Museum has an innovative approach to collecting and exhibiting different cultural artifacts by applying the latest achievements of digital technology. Our interests pertain not only to narrative texts but also to Read more »
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Press Play to hear Janice M. Del Negro who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on revising feminist folk-tales: naming the women. on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Dr. Janice M. Del Negro writes
When Eric and I talked about a topic for this interview, he asked me what was I passionate about? I am passionate about naming the women.
That being said, I was reluctant to use the word “feminist” in the title of this podcast. The word “feminist” is a trigger word that elicits, in many people, a strong emotional response. Since I agree with Mark Twain – “the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug”- the choice of the word “feminist” was problematic, because nearly everyone has a distinct personal definition of that particular word. Eric bypassed that concern, however: “people will search ‘feminist’ online,” he said to the library school professor. So here we are, “Revisioning the Feminist Folktale,” and I am not sure that two people on the planet have the same definition of what “feminist” means, never mind folktale, or oral tradition. So I’ll stick to passion.
I am passionate about retelling folktales. I am passionate about excavating old tales, tales that have already survived for centuries, for emotional truths that resonate with contemporary listeners. There is no definitive version of a folktale, no “original”; we can point to Read more »
Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on Tuesday June 3rd at 8 p.m. SWC #057 with storyteller, Dovie Thomason – Building Young Adult Audiences.
Dovie Thomason writes…
I enjoy listening… I enjoy dialogue…I hope to learn something from every group of listeners or every chance conversation. SO….join me/us for this podcast, which isn’t about “The Answer”, but a collaborative search for alternatives and new visions that speak to a question many of us are asking: Where are the Young Adults in our Audiences?
There is considerable conversation going on about the “graying” (I prefer silvering…) of the storytelling community. Yet, these conversations seem to deal primarily with the age of the Storytellers, not the age of the Listeners…. How can we issue an invitation and create a sense of inclusion and an appreciation for the vital role of stories at all ages, but particularly with the extraordinarily responsive and interactive and “plugged-in” 15-30 year olds (more or less…).
Overseas, particularly (in my experience) in Europe, it is not unusual to have strong representation from Read more »
Fill out the form and press play to hear Karen Chace talks about building a school storytelling club on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Karen Chace
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Story by story, building a school storytelling club.
Karen has a great resource of storytelling links and other storytelling goodies that are worth your time at http://www.storybug.net
On a warm, spring night in June of 2003 nineteen third and fourth grade elementary storytelling students took center stage in the school auditorium. The event was the first Student Storytelling Festival where their dedication and talent came together for a glorious evening of folktales, fables, myths and legends from around the world. Each child had personally selected their tale and their work quickly became a labor of love. Without hesitation each storyteller stepped to the Read more »
BRIEFLY: I had a BLAST in an exhausting collage of faces and places starting with Atlanta, Kennesaw (curriculum mixes drama and storytelling) with Irish teller Eddie Lenihan. Then up through the Smokey Mountains: Cleveland, Knoxville, and Jonesborough (SUCH A LITTLE TOWN!) Connie Gil hosted me. Met with NSN (Bobbie) and ISC (Susan/ Jimmy Neil) about a national story radio show. I did a workshop & tell there, then did lotsa ghost tours with my daughter in Savannah, and caught my breath at her house in Jacksonville, Florida. Then a wonderfully intense long weekend at the Florida Storytelling Camp and home on one of the last ATA flights. Read more »
Fill out the form and press play to hear Jeff Gere on Thinking Big with Radio and TV on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf show.
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How you can Think Big with radio and TV.
A BLUEPRINT: I offer a blueprint based on my evolution here in Hawaii mapping a progression from a teller to a story producer of a Festival, a radio, and TV series. I believe it is vital for us to moving storytelling into the blood stream of the mainstream.
MY OPINION: Storytelling is like folk music before Peter Paul & Mary. Its self-image loves small and intimate, is largely adverse and suspicious of media and documentation while the REST of the Web Entertainment World explodes bland content in an ever-growing variety of methods and technologies. Content is King, storytelling is a DEEP WELL of PROFOUND CONTENT, but it/we are NOT reaching the fast-food masses. Our self-image does not serve us. I believe there’s a need for Storytelling. We have an opportunity: We who drink in this well ARE the ones to bridge this gap, get OVER our techno-phobia, and feed this rich story mana to the Masses. OK, you say, but HOW?
“The First impediment is self-imposed” Helen Keller.
A FLOOD BEGINS WITH A DROP: (you): Start with YOURSELF. Do your homework, find your Voice & polish coal into a jewel with your tongue. Tell tell tell tell and tell: THEN get biz card, resume, and website. Start small and Read more »
Fill out the form and press play to hear Onawumi Jean Moss talk about how to create a Storytelling festival with multicultural goals on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
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Onawumi Jean Moss
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Using culturally driven objects to create entertaining storytelling festivals.
Onawumi Jean Moss is an deep storyteller to draw from with her rich history on college campus and with her commitment to storytelling. She brings a solid grounding to the often airy art form of storytelling. I hope you enjoy listening to our interview as much as I enjoyed recording it.
More on Onawumi Jean Moss…
Onawumi Jean Moss of Amherst, Massachusetts is a storyteller, narrator, keynote speaker and author. Onawumi is a 2005 recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston Storytelling Award (November 2005), the highest award given by the National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS). She holds lifetime memberships in the National Storytellers Network (NSN) and the National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS). She is also a member of the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling (LANES).
The performances of this talking book and rhythm master encourage pride of heritage, appreciation of cultural differences and recognition of kinship. This Tennessee native’s first stories were learned from her Read more »
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Storyteller Contact Information
Brother Wolf Storytelling
Eric James Wolf
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Yellow Springs, Ohio. 45387
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Artistic Marketing, Festival Organizing, Healing Storytelling, Storytelling in Community | Brother Wolf | 
February 18, 2010 7:32 pm | 
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