Vol.17, No.2 An Interview with Mary ... - Storytelling Toronto · Storytelling was a part of every chil-dren's librarian's work back then, but gen-erally a small part, so although

Pippin - Fall 2011 –Winter 2012 1

by Deborah Dunleavy Recently on a storytelling visit to Kitch-ener-Waterloo I met up with teller, Mary-Eileen McClear at her delightful storytel-ling barn in the neat little village of Baden,

Ontario. It is a teller’s paradise – a dream come true. DD: Your web site says that storytelling chose you. How did that happen? MM: I was in public library work for 11 years - first as a children's librarian, then as a Regional Library consultant. When my first child was born I decided to take con-tract work rather than going back to work full time. One day a local teacher who heard me speak at an OLA conference

called and asked if I would come into her elementary classroom to tell a story. "Sure!" I said.

I went, had a great time, and was given a generous honorarium. Not long after, a second teacher called - then a third. It

dawned on me that I could tell stories as a job instead of doing contract work and it would be a lot more fun. As I say on the website, I real-ized that I was not a librarian who told sto-ries; I was, in fact, a story-teller who had been working in libraries.

Storytelling was a part of every chil-dren's librarian's work back then, but gen-erally a small part, so although I had told stories and taught storytelling during those 11 years, I probably only knew about three stories off the top of my head. But I had the huge advantage of knowing the litera-ture, sources, and types of stories, so I set

We live in a world full of stories. And many of our storytellers have been travelling to far flung places to tell tales, garner leg-ends and bring back amazing

accounts of their journeys and encounters. From Ireland to the Orkney Islands, from Tennessee to Buenos Aires, the Pippin tell-

INSIDE

A Note From the Editor

A World Full of Stories

The Story Bard of Baden.........1 A Note from the Editor...........1 Nota Bene ..........................2 Cape Cledar Storytelling Festival .4 Festival at the Edge...............5 National Storytelling Festival .....6 Stories of Hope ...................7

Books, CDs & More................8 A Storyteller’s Journmey .........9 Foreign Experience/New Insight .10 Stories Goin’ Round................11 Anyone Can Tell a Story..........12 News & Announcements ...........12-13 Listings..............................15

ers have been chocking up the air miles. Closer to home we have been bringing

the world into our festivals, concert se-ries, story circles and meetings through the diverse storytelling culture that we are able to tap into. It is an amazing sort of glue that holds us together – this uni-versal love of the oral art form we call storytelling.

In his book, The Wayfinders author and ethno-botanist Wade Davis warns us that it is not only our environment that is at risk of being lost but that our culture is also at risk. With the progression of the “bigger, better, more” manifesto the

(Continued on page 2)

An Interview with Mary-Eileen McClear


Vol.17, No.2

The Story Bard of Baden

Mary‐Eileen McClear

2 Pippin - Fall 2011 –Winter 2012

**NOTA BENE**

PIPPIN is the newsletter of Storytelling Toronto

The Storytellers School of Toronto is a registered, non-profit organization that provides a creative home for a community of storytellers,

listeners, and story-explorers. Our mission is to inspire, encourage and support storytelling for listeners, tellers and those who have not yet heard. Since 1979 we have been providing courses and workshops; holding gatherings, festivals and events to celebrate and present the art of storytelling; supporting the creative work of storytellers; and producing publications about storytelling and storytellers.

Pippin Editor Deborah Dunleavy

[email protected]

Design/Layout chris cavanagh

Listings Marylyn Peringer

Program Leaders Festival Director: Debra Baptiste

Resident Teachers: Marylyn Peringer, Lynda Howes Directory: Bruce Carmody

Legless Stocking: Lorne Brown, Catherine Melville STORYFIRE: Catherine Melville

Website: Bruce Carmody [email protected]

Board of Directors 2011-2012

Office Director Gail Nyoka

© Storytelling Toronto

(formerly Storytellers School of Toronto)

Ph: 416-656-2445 Fax: 416-656-8510 www.storytellingtoronto.org

601 Christie St., Suite #173 Toronto On M6G 4C7

[email protected]

www.storytellingtoronto.org

Every Friday night since 1978 storytellers and listeners have been gathering in downtown Toronto. Each evening is

hosted by an accomplished storyteller. Anyone is welcome to tell a story.

Every Friday night is unique.

Suggested donation: $5.00

Time: 8:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Innis College Café 2 Sussex Street, Toronto.

(corner St. George, one block south of Bloor St. W.

St. George Subway - St. George St. exit)

www.1001fridays.org

traditional story bearers of the indigenous ways are going by the wayside of the bull-dozers in the rainforests. It is the loss of our ethno-sphere that concerns him deeply. He defines this as “the sum total of all thoughts and intuitions, myths and beliefs, ideas and inspirations brought into human imagination since the dawn of con-sciousness.”

Perhaps we new-born story travelers

are the ones who can help hold the world consciousness together. We can hear the spoken word, take the stories to heart, and impart them again for others to pass on for generations to come. Our story steps may only take us physically as far as around the block but they can transport us to another place and another time, and they can ensure that our cultures do not fade away with the whims of those who forget to hear.

(Continued from page 1)

A World Full of Stories — cont’d

WELCOME ON BOARD Welcome to new board member Qaid Silk. He joins Karen Blair, Molly Sutkaitis, Paul Robert and Hildy

Stollery. Special appreciation for retiring board mem-bers goes out to Tasleem Thawar, June Brown and Ce-

sar Polvorosa Jr.

Karen Blair Paul Robert Qaid Silk Hildy Stollery Molly Sutkaitis

Outgoing: Tasleem Thawar June Brown Cesar Polvorosa Jr.


to work, developed a basic repertoire and called on skills I had learned as a drama major in university. When I was ready to go I contacted the local newspaper, suggested that they might like to do an article on me, and the phone began to ring off the hook. That was in the 1980s - halcyon days for performers in schools. DD: You describe storytelling as the social glue that holds communities together. How do you see that in a philosophical and prac-tical perspective? MM: We need to know each other's sto-ries. Our community here in the Kitchener-Waterloo area is extremely diverse. But whether we are lucky enough to be in a community full of new Canadians, or whether we're in a small homogeneous town, we need to share our stories with one another. Get to know people. Tell your story, listen to theirs. Find commonalities. Many cultures have stories about people whose lives are spared because adversaries came to know each other through the sharing of life stories. Stories build bridges between cultures, gen-erations, and communi-ties and we are all strengthened as a re-sult. DD: Why is member-ship in storytelling as-sociations so impor-tant? MM: There are many reasons. Associations connect us and give us opportunities to get to know other tellers and learn about what they're doing. I always feel energized when I read about storytelling activities around the province or the country, and often someone else's work will spark an idea in me. Associations keep us current with trends in the arts; they advocate for us; they offer educational opportunities so that we can continue to improve as tellers; they often provide opportunities for us to be heard and to hear others; sometimes they offer grants or assist members in getting grants.

The problem with storytelling associa-

tions, though, is that we are such a small community that our associations are also small. They're run by volunteers who have to juggle jobs, and their own creative sto-rytelling work along with the business of the association. It's tempting to say, "I don't want to pay dues in that association because I don't get enough for my money." Sometimes you need to put the money out there and let it help the association grow so that it can provide you with more of what you want. You need to take your turn helping to run the association so that no one burns out. DD: Why do you enjoy telling to adults and why do you enjoy telling to children? MM: I love the delight children express in so many ways as they listen to stories and participate in them. As for adults, it's much the same: I love the wonder as they rediscover the joy of listening to stories.

Sometimes when I have been doing a lot of schools I yearn for the chance to sink my teeth into a good story for an adult audi-ence, but if I told only to adults, I know I would miss the fun of the kids and stories meant especially for them. DD: You have created a number of histori-cal storytelling presentations. Research is critical, why? How do you breathe life into your historical telling so that it is more than a series of facts? MM: It goes without saying: you have to be prepared to research. Perhaps you have a story in mind when you start; perhaps you want to find a story around a certain event

or time period. Either way you need to im-merse yourself in the time, place and peo-ple so that you can find the spark that will let you create a story worth listening to. There is a temptation to do all historical stories in the first person but, especially if you're doing a concert with a number of different stories, it's good to have them told in a variety of voices.

Breathing life into the story is the challenge, of course. What I do is find a person or event, learn as many facts as I can, and then create a story of what might have happened, given the facts that I know. We rarely actually know what people were thinking or saying and yet those are part of what brings a story to life. So I imagine what might have been said, how things might have transpired, based on the re-search I have done. It becomes historical fiction, I guess.

I'm wrestling with this right now in a concert of stories I'm working on around the War of 1812. I knew that I wanted to focus on ordinary people in the war and what hap-pened to them, what they faced. I can find the de-tails and facts, and I can string them together in a narrative of the event, but that doesn't make it a story that will come alive for the listener. You have to find the key. Of-ten the key presents it-self to me a couple of days before I am to tell the story instead of in the months I spend look-

ing for it! I guess that's the way my brain works.

I have one story about a local Mennon-ite family in the War of 1812. I wanted to find something about what was happening locally and was lucky enough to talk to a researcher, Jonathon Seiling, who had found a wonderful snippet in an archive. A snippet is not a story, but luckily that one wrote itself quite easily. It still needs a lot of work, and I want to contact any descen-dants of the family to get their okay to use the actual names.

The Laura Secord story which will be



The Story Barn


A report from Pat Bisset If you can find a way to Ireland at the end of the summer attend the Cape Clear Sto-rytelling Festival. It is held each summer on Canadian Labour Day weekend from Fri-day to Sunday.

Cape Clear is a rough rocky island about four kilometers long in County Cork. I drove with my brother-in -law Brendan. He lives in Robertstown, on the Grand Canal near Dublin in an old barge he restored. We took the ferry from Baltimore, a pretty village with a beautiful harbor overlooked by brightly colored homes built on rocky outcroppings. Today it is a rather sleepy fishing village - a tourist spot and port but it was a busy hive of shipping and emigra-tion during the famine years.

Cape Clear itself is a long rocky finger with enough greenery to support some farms. The primary language is Irish Gallic. The one lane roads carved through rocks have few pullover spots for passing. You can always tell which cars be-long to Islanders by their many dents. I stayed in the Cape Clear Hostel, a former coast-guard station well decorated with owner Richie’s fine photos of island nature, a large glass cabinet of his ship in bottle collection and even a small li-brary by the fireplace.

Each concert and workshop I attended was top stan-dard. The weekend was fully scheduled with three main con-certs, many workshops, a hike, Irish dancing, two story swaps and several children's events. Of course being in Ireland there was lots of unofficial activities going on at Ciaran Danny Mike's Pub.

Liz Weir of Belfast who many SC-CC members met at the Newfoundland 2010 conference was there. Liz was seen all weekend helping with all the details that create this top event. Graham Langley from Birmingham England was a featured artist. Again some may have met him at St. Johns 2010. Graham always has a big smile. I imagine how children love his telling as he

works the whole stage with easy grace. He did much fine work but I especially enjoyed his telling of Childe Rowland from the Brit-ish epic of King Arthur.

The American Government sponsored David Holt's attendance. He has both musi-cal and storytelling talent. His work as an ethnographer in the Carolina Mountains impressed me greatly. He is also a fine pho-tographer and has blown up portraits of the mountain folk. They were too poor to buy instruments so made their own. Some were as simple as rhythmically tapping body parts or blowing up a brown paper bag and using it as a drum. David’s storytelling of personal youth tales was memorable.

It is inevitable to have a fine Irish teller at Cape Clear and Kate Corkery of

County Cork filled the bill. She has a won-derful repertoire of legends, myths, and folktales - especially those of May 1st and October 31 when the veil that separates us from the land of Fairy folk is very thin. Kate often moves across the stage with her drum. I am still haunted by her story of a changeling and the despair of the poor Mother.

Roy Arbucle is from Northern Ire-land. He often sings songs of humor with his guitar and has toured the United States for many years. Roy likes to work

with youth from all parts of the country to promote peace.

I participated at the second tell around on the Saturday afternoon at the Pub. Now you get sun in Ireland but rarely all after-noon but Saturday was a golden sunny day and we were able to move outside with pic-nic tables, trees and a large hill to sit on. Pat Speight, an affable and extremely funny man, hosted. He had a joke or small tale between each teller.

When I was debating with myself, could I possibly do this trip, I checked out the Cape Clear website and saw that Sheila Stewart was performing. She is rather a hero to my Backseat Balladeers group and

we sing her Parting Glass Song at the end of a performance. That was it. I booked in. Sheila is the last of the Scottish Travelers to have the great reper-toire of song and story of her peo-ple. One song she sang dated to the 13th century. She grew up with the other great teller Duncan William-son who died only a few years ago. She is one of the last speakers of 'Cant' the ancient language of Scot-tish Travelers. Sheila was only al-lowed to sing or tell when she had developed enough Gra' - a word roughly equivalent to soul. And yes she did sing The Parting Glass Song. And so as the festival ended we waved to the many that were leaving on the five o'clock ferry -including

Molly Sutkaitis who also travelled from Toronto. When the boat left, as was the tradition, we waved with handkerchiefs - well tissues actually. After dinner we went to the pub and there I experienced a per-sonal highlight. People sat around Pat Speight - some from the festival but oth-ers included farmers, fishermen and locals. Everyone took turns singing a Ballad or telling a story. A fitting end to a fine fes-tival. To learn more about the festival visit: www.capeclearstorytelling.com.

CAPE CLEAR STORYTELLING FESTIVAL


A report from Debra Baptiste In July, I had the opportunity to visit Fes-tival at the Edge (FatE) in Much Wenlock, England. FatE is an annual interna-tional storytelling festival and the oldest one of its kind in England. Attendees en-joyed a weekend of fantastic storytelling, practical workshops, music and demonstra-

tions surrounded by breathtaking views of the Shropshire countryside alongside the magnificent and magical Wenlock Edge.

Since 1999, FatE has also commissioned major new storytelling performances to premiere at the festival each year. This year’s commissioned piece was “The Goose Wing” presented by Christine McMahon who was accompanied by brass musician Johnny Cowens. Christine told an original story about an old woman nearing her end. It was an enchanting, dark and thoughtful performance that weaved folk tales and personal memories with incredible warmth and focus. Peter Chand’s famous Mangoes

on the Beach also premiered at FatE as the commissioned piece a few years ago.

Other performers included Robert Owens-Greygrass (California), Jasna Held (Croatia), Kokumo (Jamaica), Hugh Lupton (UK), Liz Weir (Ireland), and Robin William-son (UK). Amateur tellers from storytelling clubs that meet all over England were also

in fine form at Club Mix Sessions. I had the pleasure of seeing Hugh Lup-

ton give a special midnight performance of Beowulf, Robin Willamson captivate audi-ences with his harp and Celtic tales and the incomparable Liz Weir. The Urban Gypsies of Manchester danced and walked about the festival with a wonderful mix of world and Tribal Belly Dance moves. Early rising campers were gently coaxed to awareness with 9am Tai Chi and Chi Gung classes by Lucy Wells. Kaleidoscope Theatre Company members (six of whom happen to have Down’s syndrome) entertained audiences with cameos and dance dramas.

Attendees were of all ages and included many families. Extensive camp grounds with all the amenities were provided and made for a very comfortable weekend. There was a “village” area where people could go be-tween stories to eat delicious food and shop for rare treasures. Five impressive performance tents around the camp

grounds set the stage for storytelling for children, musicians and choirs. Festival Stewards (otherwise known as volunteers) were incredibly helpful, calm and helpful. Sue and Peter Chand and the rest of the FatE festival committee did a tremendous job producing the festival and provided a rich and captivating storytelling experience for all.

To learn more about FatE visit www.festivalattheedge.org. Debra’s trip was partially supported by travel funding from Canada Council for the Arts.

Festival at the Edge – Much Wenlock, England

A gaggle of tellers from ‐ some you may know ‐ from Festival at the Edge


“What New Orleans is to jazz … Jonesbor-ough is to storytelling.” — Los Angeles Times Located in the natural beauty of Northeast Tennessee in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, historic Jonesborough has played host to the National Storytelling Festival (NSF) for over three decades. Called “the leading event of its kind in America” by USA Today, this award-winning festival boasts 10,000 listeners.

This year was the NSF’s 39th and you should definitely believe the ‘hype’ that surrounds this festival. The NSF organizers and volunteers pro-duce a well oiled, high-octane story-telling machine that enjoys the support of the entire town of Jonesborough, Tennessee. The festival is pro-duced under the umbrella of the International Sto-rytelling Centre Staff, lead by President Jimmy Neil Smith and Director of Pro-grams, Susan O’Connor who has produced the fes-tival for 20 years.

It was providence when I called Nansee and Bob William’s Carriage House B&B look-ing for a place to stay once I found out I received Canada Council funding for my trip to Jonesborough. I was actually becoming a little panicked because it looked like all the nearby accommodations were taken. (I soon learned that some people book years in advance for the choicest rest stations). Nansee graciously held a room for me and once she found out that I was director of the Toronto Festival, she even facilitated a meeting with The National Storytelling Centre’s President Jimmy Neil Smith! I

soon came to learn that it is true what they say about southern charm and hospitality. Nansee picked me up from the airport and zipped me around the festival grounds in her yellow golf cart (the festival mode of transportation), introducing me to all the festival insiders. It was incredible and very much appreciated!

I was swept away by fantastic (mostly) personal tales from Spencer Bohren, Willy Claflin, Donald Davis, Bill Harley, Bil Lepp, Angela Lloyd, Dolores Hydock, Antonio Sacre and Gene Tagaban to name just a

few. All in all, I listened to 22 storytellers over 3 days!

Throughout the festival, special homage was paid to Kathryn Tucker Windham who performed regularly since the 2nd NSF in 1974. Sadly, Kathryn died this past June at age 92. She was instrumental in changing the tide of NSF’s first 15 years of story-telling from folk tales and such to personal stories. A special DVD presentation of the life and times of Kathryn Tucker was shown throughout the festival.

Dolores Hydock told a magnificent true story entitled “In Her Own Fashion” about

a sassy ambitious Southern belle born in 1913 who led a life full of celebrity hi-jinks, career disasters, and reckless ro-mance. In a ‘Midnight Cabaret ‘ with Rev. Robert Jones and Sister Bernice Jones, the audience was masterfully lead through the progression of spirituals to gospel, the blues, R&B and hip hop with story and song.

Amidst the sea of personal stories, our friend Clare Muireanne Murphy stood out as a definite festival highlight with her “Heels of the Hound” performance and other Celtic tales and myths.

I Am Home was an impressive produc-tion of stories for the community by the community. Dur-ing 2010, residents of Jonesborough and Washington County – from all races, ages, and backgrounds –shared their stories of Tennessee’s Old-est Town. The sto-ries were molded into a play. Then they were brought to life on stage and performed by the residents them-selves. This process can be reproduced anywhere and the Jonesborough initia-tive was facilitated by the Staging

Change Institute. It has developed a framework to teach communities how to harness the power of storytelling to build diverse, creative, and motivated teams and communities through its seminar. www.stagingchangeinstitute.com

I can only imagine what the National Storytelling Festival has in store for its 40th year in 2012, but I can tell you that this festival is one every story-lover should visit at least once. For information on the 40th National Story-telling Festival, visit www.storytellingcentre.net.

Jonesborough, Tennessee

National Storytelling Festival

Voices of Jonesborough Wall of Fame


Pandora came to visit me in a dream. The experience still feels surreal. Etched into my memory is Pandora, a woman of grace wearing a cream toga that draped over her shoulders and wrapped loosely around her body. I see Pandora move in close to say, “Tell my story.” Her voice is smooth as honey, rich and certain. I awake from the dream not knowing what Pandora’s story is.

A visit to my local library quickly ac-quaints me with Pandora’s story. Cast as another disobedient woman responsible for the graveness of human experience, I feel uninspired to tell Pandora’s story. Perhaps this particular dream just seemed impor-tant because I could remember it.

Still the dream image of Pandora left an imprint on my conscious mind. I grappled to understand her and I hoped she would reappear in another dream. She did not. After many months of marinating in thoughts and feelings about what it means to be a woman with a story to tell, I sat down and wrote in first person narrative Pandora’s story.

Three back-to-back speaking engage-ments with audiences looking for an uplift-ing message gave me the opportunity to test out Pandora’s story. After the first talk, an impeccably dressed older gentle-man who looked like a walking billboard for success greeted me with a warm smile, an out stretched hand and this story: “I have many stories but few memories.” He shared with me that he used to drink terri-bly and consequently he could not remem-ber much about his own children growing up. “Hope” he said with a long pause, “I can tell you about. Hope gives second chances. I get to spend a lot of time with my grand-children and I marvel at my sons who have turned into great fathers.” This kind of heartfelt sharing flowed with each telling of Pandora’s story. It seemed to me as if my dream time Pandora had orchestrated her own storytelling circle. “Tell my story” was invitational to recognize and honor the human journey.

Everyone has an important story to tell – women, men, children - everyone. It feels wonderful to be heard. It just takes some-one who genuinely wants to learn about another, and someone who is kind to both the storyteller and the story for stories to flow with relative ease. As a woman, I am

most interested in women’s stories. My experience of personal storytelling is that it is an intimate exchange of genuine shar-ing and so I am most comfortable relating with women.

I seemed to be in a good place in my life where women’s stories just seemed to flow to and from one another with magic, love and ease. Some of the stories I was learn-ing were so profoundly and emotionally gripping. I was also bursting to help these women tell their stories so that others could also hear them. As good fortune would have it, five women with impactful and inspiring real life stories of hope were ready to give voice to their important ex-periences.

As a result a CD became the tool to preserve the stories and capture the beau-tiful voices that the stories belonged to. The Pandora’s Daughters CD features five amazing women.

Elaine Finley, an irresistible 88 year old who tells how surviving a horrific fire trauma and near death experience was ulti-mately a gift in learning how miraculous bodies are.

Ingrid Schilling, who was born in 1943 under Hitler’s “Lebensborn” breeding pro-gram to create a master race that, was racially pure with standardized physical traits. Ingrid is one of approximately 4000 known children born in a Lebensborn mater-nity hospital.

Reverend Christina Bellsmith, a United Church Minister announced in church one Sunday that s/he is a transgendered per-son. Christina’s journey to be authentic and real in all aspects of her life including min-istry is not just fascinating but also inspir-ing for being authentic, compassionate and

true to your own self is an important mes-sage for everyone to hear.

Janice Turner, a performing artist with a passion for celebrating the divine femi-nine through puppetry, storytelling and clowning could simply no longer keep up with the relentless crap coming out of Pandora’s Box. Janice would do nothing for one year. Into the third year of doing nothing, hun-dreds of old women’s bras and retired blue jeans landed at her front door as “gifts”. Janice brought the gifts into her quiet home, cut them into pieces and sewed them together to create the most exquisite and whimsical 27 x 27 quilted women’s laby-rinth, returning Janice to the world re-stored.

Beverley Macdonald is a strong woman. Beverley’s childhood ought to have been carefree, but there was no time for playing with alcoholic parents and many young sib-lings to look after. Sadly, spousal abuse would follow Beverley into adulthood includ-ing following her into places that should have been sanctuaries. What makes Bev’s story so powerful is that she reached a pivotal point of being able to look into the many faces of abuse and see it clearly for what it is. And, now this amazing strong woman is a woman’s retreat facilitator and author of Rites of Passage, a guide to rec-reate and claim the important milestones of life with ritual and celebration.

Marlon Gibbons enriched the story col-lection with a soulful musical composition. There are so many more stories in need of being told. The most important story to tell is our own. I needed to make good on this belief and so the last story on the CD is my own and it is about discovering that low and behold, I am gold.

Are you a Pandora’s daughter? Do you reveal yourself through compassionate messages of loving, learning, confronting fears, healing and hoping? Unlike Pandora, the daughters have plenty to say. Pandora’s Daughters are very much in the here and now.

At last I know the meaning of my sur-real Pandora dream. Pandora’s three words, “Tell my story” has revealed a new truth. When I understand the important story of others, I see my own story. To contact BJ McCabe please call (705) 424-4835 or email [email protected].

Stories of Hope—The Making of “Pandora’s Daughters”


Pandora’s Daughters Stories of Hope

collected and produced by BJ McCabe This CD, inspired by BJ McCabe features six stories of hope, empowerment, transcendence and transformation. To purchase your own copy of Pandora’s Daughters CD on line visit www.pandorasdaughters.com. The cost of a CD is $17.99 and includes shipping and handling.

BOOKS, CDS & MORE Better Than Weird by Anna Kerz Aaron's father is coming home after eight years away and he's promised to bring a surprise. Aaron can hardly wait. He already has lists of all the things he wants to do with his dad. Unfortunately things don't go as planned. When his dad finally arrives, Aaron doesn't make a good first impression. "He's not what I expected," his dad says. He sounds disappointed. Will he stay?

"A stand-alone sequel to Anna Kerz's excellent Mealworm Dia-ries, Aaron is a credible, well-rounded character, as are Gran, Tufan, Dad, and all of the other characters. Better Than Weird is simply told, yet rich with wonderful metaphors and believable surprises. Kerz's style makes this a story that will appeal to readers of all levels. Highly Recom-mended." – CM Magazine – February 25, 2011 Better Than Weird is nominated for the Silver Birch Award. Published by Orcha Book Publish-ers. ISBN 978-1-55469-362-7 Price: $9.95

Kishka for Koppel by Aubrey Davis

In this fresh take on a classic tale, a magic meat grinder helps a poor Jewish couple learn a little gratitude after the three wishes it grants them go awry. A cautionary story that questions today's consumerism and excessiveness, Kishka for Koppel, like the best folktales, can help children and adults alike look beyond and within.

This well recognized & multi award-winning duo of Aubrey

Davis & Sheldon Cohen has created magic with a captivating & whimsical folktale…" CM Magazine – Oct.14, 2011"

"The tale is told in rapid-fire dialogue appropriately reminis-cent of borscht-belt humour...A fresh look at an old favorite." Kirkus Reviews - August 31, 2011 Kishka for Koppel, by Aubrey Davis, illustrated by Sheldon Cohen, Orca Book Publishers, 2011. ISBN 9781554692996 Price: $19.95


A report from Brian Hetherington The typical conversation before I left for Orkney with Bob Wilhelm’s Storyfest Jour-neys, went like this:

Where are going on holiday? Orkney. (Confused and surprised look)

Orkney? Never heard of it! It’s a group of islands off the

north coast of Scotland. Oh? Why are you going there? And I told them …

As I walked around the stone circle at Stenness, it was impossible not to be im-pressed: the circles themselves were a thousand years older than Stonehenge and older than the pyramids of Egypt. Unlike Stonehenge, I could still walk up to the stones and touch them – the circles of Stonehenge are now protected by barriers and one can only see them at a distance. This was only one of the amazing sights of Orkney. The Neolithic village at Skara Brae, the tombs at Maeshowe and the nine-teenth century crofter’s farm at Kirbister were equally fascinating. Now, if your idea of a vacation is to lay

in the sun on the beach, you could do that in Orkney but waters in that northern lati-tude are so cold and the weather so unpre-dictable that you wouldn’t be impressed. The fickle weather is part of the experi-ence: I can’t imagine trying to farm that land with its ever so short summers, the frequent rain, and the even more frequent wind. Another part of the experience is the almost complete lack of trees: unlike the rest of Scotland or Iceland, this lack is not caused by deforestation but the wind and the northern location. Indeed, the wind without trees as a windbreak and fierce storms are common motifs of the stories of the region.

The stories were wonderful. We could only imagine the stories and lives of Neo-lithic Orcadians since so few written re-cords remain. We could walk the sites of the Vikings and their stories, such as the struggle between Earl Rognvald and St. Magnus for control of the islands. We heard stories of pirates who sheltered here, and the stories of change and hope from the Second World War, for example, the Quonset hut turned into a chapel by Italian prisoners of the Second World

War. It sounds bizarre but the final result is charming and moving.

Orkney seems to be a magnet for sto-rytellers: so many tellers have settled here captured by the mystique of the islands. The Orcadians themselves would not call themselves storytellers but they were. They knew the history and the traditional culture of the place so well. Neill, the tour guide at Corrigal farm was the type of tra-ditional teller that could never be put on stage: his stories are inseparable from the landscape that created them. As modern connoisseurs of the ancient art of storytel-ling, we are alienated from the lands and cultures that made the stories we tell. Try as we might, this alienation is difficult to overcome – it is only through travel that we can experience the stories holistically in the land that created them. My trip to Orkney allowed me to do just that: see and hear the stories of this unique culture, a blend of Norse and Scottish roots quite unlike the more well known Gaelic cultures to the west. For more information on the next of Bob Wilhelm’s journeys to Orkney in May 2012, see: www.orkneystoryfest.com

A Storyteller’s Journey to Orkney

The Standing Stones of Stenness


A report by Heather Whaley My first Foreign International Festival invitation was an experience I will never forget! From April 29 to May 1, 2011 I par-ticipated in the Fundacion El Libro 16th International Storytelling Festival in Bue-nos Aires, Argentina.

It was an amazing journey working with storyteller Silvia De Cesare by email and through Skype, prior to actually meeting her in Buenos Aires. With the heart and soul of a seasoned performer, Silvia leaped in and accompanied me in Spanish with si-multaneous and tandem telling. She was my interpreter and translator for all stage performances and workshops I presented during the festival.

Silvia and I met in 2009 at one of my performances at a Toronto Library during her visit from Argentina to see her par-ents, who now live in Etobicoke. At the time she was still discovering what storytelling is about. After the show we went for cof-fee and talked about her desire to become a storyteller. We continued our relationship through email after she left Canada; she had a lot of questions about resources and story types, which I did my best to answer, and I encouraged her to seek a group in her area. She soon discovered that there was nothing in the small town of Mercedes where she lives, three hours outside of the city of Buenos Aires.

Silvia took a three month Storytelling workshop with Paula Martin, a well known storyteller living in Buenos Aires, and even-tually a year long course with her. She be-gan storytelling in her EFL (English as a Foreign Language) school that she owns and operates as a teacher of English. As well, she began telling in public schools and cre-ating solos shows to adults.

Silvia later suggested inviting me for their International Storytelling Festival as Paula was on the committee. It was her enthusiasm for our goal to work with trans-lation that made it all happen. The chal-lenge was to create my programs to appeal to foreign language listeners in such a way that they would understand and be enter-tained, while listening to my stories in Eng-lish with Spanish translation.

I received my invitation, in Spanish, and

frantically contacted Silvia! “Is this what I think it is?” I excitedly asked her through email. Her response had at least ten excla-mation marks following a big YEAH!! So, at that point she became my official translator. Her work was cut out for her as every piece of communication came to me in Spanish through the founda-tion’s administration office. I replied back in Spanish through Silvia’s hard work. Thus began our journey of rewriting the stories I chose to tell, and working with interpretation for preambles of my song sets.

I was asked to tell a forty minute set to adults, conduct a two hour adult work-shop, and create a fifteen minute set for the final stage show. I was surprised to hear that many of my phrases and word choices could not easily be translated to Spanish! Some of my expressions and use of idioms were difficult to interpret. Unique Canadian expressions were tricky. Humorous words like “kerfuffle” definitely got lost in translation.

We later discovered Skype and began rehearsal online! This was new to both of us. It really was so much fun. We had no idea how to place the cameras or use the microphones. She appeared huge on my screen! I think the first “rehearsal” was all about, “Can you hear me?” or “Where did you go, I can’t see you?” There were plenty of laughs and unique discoveries about one another that helped our friendship to blos-som. Creativity seeped through the screens. We were in awe that technology can bring people together all over the world like this.

The Book Fair in Buenos Aires, to my astonishment, was huge with apparently close to 2 million visitors over the 10 day Fair. Our three day Storytelling Festival was amazing with over 650 registrants for 20 workshops and up to 850 people in the audience on our final two hour concert fea-turing all International Storytellers on

stage at various times. All solo performances had audiences of

up to 100 in each of the three rooms oper-ating at the same time. My two hour work-shop on Finding Your Authentic Voice was filled with close to 65 teachers, storytell-ers, educators and even journalists. I couldn’t believe the line-up of participants waiting for the doors to open each morning, and the line-ups of hundreds to receive their certificates on the last day! The par-ticipants were required to register and complete three professional development workshops to earn a certificate that they had to provide to their place of employ-ment. Apparently the Ministry of Culture and Education funds this festival which is incredible.

Featured storytellers were deemed celebrities, and people stopped them to take photographs with their families and other individuals attending the festival. I must say that it felt wonderful to receive hugs and cheek kisses on top of payment for a job well-done!

One of the highlights of my trip was to Mercedes, Silvia’s small town about 100km just outside of Buenos Aires. I visited rural schools and the ESL school she owns and operates. The children were in awe of the fact that I did not speak Spanish and even challenged me with questions, giggling when I shrugged. I told them, “Now I know how you feel not understanding English.”

My workshop to ESL teachers using storytelling in the classroom had a nice cozy group of seventeen very grateful stu-


Foreign Experience Brings New Insights

Heather Whaley (left) and Silvia De Cesare for Foreign Experience Brings new Insights.


FOOL – The Festi-val of Oral Literatures took place at the end of October this year with events at the Free Times Café, the Mercer Union Gallery, the Alliance Francais and the Wychwood Artscape Barns. Fea-tured tellers included Diane Flacks, Itah Sadu, Louis Bird, Ron Evans, Luigi Rig-nanes, Pat Braden and more. Fool is pro-duced by The Tellery with Dan Yashinsky and Lisa Pijuan-Nomura at the helm.

On November 26 The Legless Stocking presented Brian Katz, Michael Wex and Dan Yashinsky in “Roshinkes mit Mandle – Jewish Songs and Stories” at the Butler’s Pantry.

Deborah Dunleavy performed “Beaver Hats and Bagpipes” for the Storytelling Series at the Waterloo Region Museum with host Mary-Eileen McClear on Octo-ber 18.

BOO AT THE BARNS: For the second year in a row Artscape Wychwood Barns hosted Boo! It took place on Saturday Oc-tober 29 from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Last year Heather Whaley was the sole teller avail-able, but this year Heather rounded up

storytellers Gail Nyoka, Ruebena Sinha, Mary-aleen Traf-ford, Amanda Kreidié, and Kim Michele for a three hour mara-

thon on

behalf of Storytelling Toronto. The event gave both profes-sional and emerging sto-rytellers an opportunity to scare the dick-ens out of kids and their families.

HALLOWEEN FUN: Durham Folklore Storytellers presented “Eye Popping Tales to Curl Your Toe Nails”, their seventh Hal-loween Happening concert at Simcoe Hall

Settlement House on October 26. The group collaborates with direc-tors of Sim-coe Hall pro-gramming to bring a fun, carefree event to needy kids in the area. Tellers were: Summi Sid-diqui, Enid DeCoe, Heather

Whaley, Irene Johnston, Marg Kropf and Dianne Chandler.

Gail Nyoka telling scary tales at Boo at the Barns.

Durham Folklore Storytellers having Halloween fun!

dents. It was absolutely fabulous working with them, learning their needs and adapting as we went along.

As it turned out Silvia visited her family in Toronto for a month in July and August and I had an opportunity to intro-duce her to some of my storytelling friends and colleagues. She went with me to Micki Beck’s annual Gathering at Bum-bleberry Farm in Apsley, Ontario and was my featured guest at 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling. She was impressed and thrilled with both events and I do believe she made an impression on her listeners.

I am so grateful to Storytelling To-ronto for supporting me with both the Anne Smythe and Alice Kane Awards. It was an experience of a lifetime.


Foreign Experience cont’d


A report by June Brown The invitation from the Toronto Library to submit proposals for Culture Days showed up on my computer two day before I was leaving for France. I had heard about this event but was not entirely clear what it was about. When I realized that Culture Days was an opportunity for Art groups across Canada to showcase their activity to the public and that the Toronto Library system would be offering venues to selected art-ists I was eager to participate.

After reading the requirements of the proposal three things were clear: artists had to provide a presentation that allowed the audience to participate in the activity, there would be no fee paid, and the location of the presentation would be decided by the Library although one could specify a preference. I decided this was a perfect opportunity to introduce storytelling to a wider audience.

I immediately call Anna Kerz and asked her to be part of the proposal. We had worked together in the StoryJam project team for several years, teaching the art of storytelling in schools around the GTA and I thought the StoryJam format would be perfect for a family workshop. Anna agreed to co-present with me and we titled our event “Everyone Can Tell a Story". To strengthen our proposal we added an arts and craft component so that families could not only learn to tell a story but make their own talking stick to take home as a souve-

nir. With a few click on the keyboard our proposal was submitted.

Confirmation came some weeks later along with the realization that this event was getting press coverage across the country. "Everyone Can Tell a Story" would take place at the North York Library on October the 1st. It would be a two hour program for parents and children age 6-12.

Now the work of preparation began. Our first job was to produce publicity for our local audience. An artistic and com-puter savvy relative created a poster which I distributed to schools and community centers in the North York area. I gathered wood for the storytelling talking sticks in the local ravines and cleaned and sanded them. Then we turned to our local dollar stores to buy the materials that could be used to decorate them.

As the presentation date approached we were pleased to hear the workshop was full. We had 30 participants and the library had a waiting list. A few days before the event we met with library staff and checked out our room. It was an ideal facil-ity. After a short meeting to organize our presentation we were good to go.

As our participants filed into our room we were delighted to see parents with chil-dren of various ages and a very multicul-tural mix. One woman arrived without a child. She explained that her daughter was too young to take part, but she herself wanted to learn how to tell stories that she could share with her child.

The session began with a participation song called, “Hello, my name is Joe, and I work in a button factory.” That was fol-lowed by the introduction of a talking stick and then a brief tell-around during which everyone had a chance to introduce them-selves and tell what animal they might like to be and why.

We moved on to tell the story of ‘Lazy Jack’ and used that to talk about the skills a teller might bring to a story to make it interesting to the listener. We chose ‘The Magic Pot’ as our second tale. With audi-ence input we story-boarded the events of the tale, then gave everyone a chance to tell the story in small groups. Three chil-dren and a father then stood up to share their telling with the entire group. We were especially pleased that the youngest of our participants was one of the volun-teers because the fact that she had the confidence and the ability to retell the story was an indication to us that the pro-gram had worked.

During the arts and crafts component of the afternoon parents and children were eager to work together. They used feath-ers, beads, pipe cleaners and ribbons to create delightfully original family talking sticks.

At the end of the program, everyone left with two things: a story they could tell and a talking stick that they flaunted proudly in the library’s children’s depart-ment.

World Storytelling Day The internet world is buzzing with all sorts of listings and you tube clips en-couraging tell-ers to get ready for the 2012 celebration of World Storytel-

ling Day on March 20. The theme is trees. Please let Pippin know how you joined in.

Thanks to grants from SC/CC several storytellers are going to be participating in the World Storytelling Day. Brian Hether-

ington and Deborah Dunleavy team up in “Branching Out in All Directions” with an array of tree stories that they will tell in Kingston, Gananoque and Brockville.

A World Storytelling Day grant award from the Storytellers of Canada has also been give to the Durham Folklore Story-tellers who will be spreading the word in selected libraries and community venues across the Durham Region during the weeks of March 5th through March 23rd, 2012.

Festival of Storytelling a Huge Success FOS - Brockville’s little festival that could came away with a wonderful feeling and money in the bank again this year. Sally Jaeger brought her chants and charm while Kelly Russell had everyone enthralled with his wit, his humor, and his Newfoundland tunes and tales. This marked the tenth year for the Festival. Artistic Director Deborah Dunleavy is stepping down to pur-sue other storytelling directions.

“We couldn’t have asked for better


Anyone Can Tell a Story


Sally Jaeger and young fan at the Festival of Storytelling, Brockville

time over these past ten years,” says Dunleavy. “We had close to 700 children at the Brockville Arts Centre who enjoyed the dance troupe MOTUS O. I have always believed in making the links of storytelling to other art forms – dance, puppetry, mime and music. We have been blessed to have great community support and significant funding from the Ontario Arts Council.”

The 1000 Islands Yarnspinners continue with their monthly meetings and are taking a year to plan new directions.

Six Word Stories Carol Leigh Wehking and Glenna Janzen of Tongues Wagging Pro-ductions teamed up for Stories Unlimited – a community 6-word story challenge. The event was held October 1 and 2 at the Hespeler Public Li-brary. The theme was trees with suggestions like – getting lost in the woods, climbing a tree, or planting an orchard. The stories have been posted on their website: www.tongues-wagging.com. Here a few for your reading pleas-ure: “It’s difficult to reach those apples.” – Diana S.

“Six trees, 600 nuts, 6000 squir-rels.” – Bernadette R. “Trees lie down to birth mush-rooms.” – Anna P.W. “Eleven people hug gigantic, an-cient oak.” – Diane H. “Gingkoes wit-nessed dinosaurs exit; loons begin-ning.” – Diane H. “Huge branches

cradle and protect me.” – Deborah D.

Storytelling Series in Waterloo Even before the doors to the newly cre-ated Waterloo Region Museum were offi-cially open to the public, teller Mary-Eileen McClear was invited to be at the helm as host and organizer of the historical story-telling series. There are three more per-formances taking place in their comfort-able, intimate theatre this season.

January 17: We See Thee Rise with

storyteller: Mary-Eileen McClear. Stories of the Mennonites who lived during the Wars of 1812.

February 21: Fighting to Keep Their Freedom with storyteller Adwoa Badoe. The gripping story of Richard Pierpoint, a black settler who fought in the wars of 1812.

March 20: Spin with storyteller Evalyn Parry. A cycle of spoken word and music about bikes, women and liberation. For more information go to: wwww.waterlooregionmuseum.com

New Name The Durham Folklore Society is now re-named The Durham Folklore Storytellers (DFS). “The new name better reflects our storytelling mandate and makes the art of storytelling clearer to the community,” says member Heather Whaley. They have a new web site address: www.durhamfolklorestorytellers.ca

Calling All Festival Friends Would you like to be a special part the 2012 Toronto Storytelling Festival? The festival is currently looking for special

stewards we are calling “Festival Friends” who will act as hospitality guides to our featured tellers and special guests. Tasks include being a resource for guest tellers in terms of suggesting good places to dine and shop in Toronto and being a liaison between them and the festi-val to ensure their experience in Toronto is a comfortable one. In-terested parties should contact [email protected]

New Web for Story-telling Toronto The new web page for Storytelling Toronto is fresh, vibrant and easy to use. Looks good on us all!

Correction Please note that in the last edition “If you are a dreamer, come in” is credited as anonymous. It was coined by Shel Silverstein. Thanks to Lorne Brown who caught the er-ror.


Teller Bill Lalonde hosts a story swap for the 1000 Islands Yarnspinners


part of the concert is one I wrote for the Hamilton SC-CC conference. I had help with that one from Laura herself whose voice clearly popped into my head on two occasions and pointed me in certain direc-tions. The first half of the show is called The Young Ones and I focus on three young people, Anne Prevost, 16, and two young men - William Hamilton Merritt and William Green, ages 18 and 19, and tell about their lives in the war. I'm having some challenges with them - but that's teenagers for you! DD: You are a recipient of a number of awards for your contribution to the arts in your region. Last year you partnered with the Waterloo Region Museum in the crea-tion of a storytelling series. How did this come about? What is your role? How is it being received by the public? MM: It was a fluke. I sat next to a woman at a concert and before it began we chat-ted. She knew who I was, and that I was a storyteller, and she told me that the Wa-terloo Region Museum, which was then un-der construction, was going to have a small 114 seat theatre. She asked if I thought that there might be a place for storytelling there. It turns out that she was on the Board of the Friends of the Museum. Well, yes, of course I thought storytelling was perfect; and so it began. My part is to line up the tellers (I'm on the lookout for 90 minute historical story concerts!), promote the series through my social media and through storytelling avenues, be the face and voice of the series on local television and radio stations, and to act as host at each concert in the series. I also set up a storytelling info table each month. While the Friends and the Museum staff handle most of the promotion I'm always looking for ways to promote the shows, which means leg work. DD: The Story Barn is a wonderful back-yard barn or turn of the century "horse garage" that your husband renovated into a delightful workshop space. What inspired you to make this the meeting location and what was it like back in 1988 when you first began gathering as a guild? How has it changed since then? MM: When we first got together there was no Guild, just open storytelling for adults, and it was about 8 people in our living room every month. I always credit Martha Stew-art because Ted and I saw a Thanksgiving

show she did when we were on vacation in Florida one November. She was serving din-ner in an outbuilding on her property (you can imagine what that was like!). Ted thought it would be great if the Thanksgiv-ing dinners we host each year - which range from 18 to 35 people - could be held in our barn, with everyone at one long table. So he began to fix up the building. His thought was that for most of the year the upstairs of the barn would be his workshop, then once a year we'd tidy it up, cover the tools, and bring up the tables. It turned out to be such a great space that we decided to move the storytelling out there. It was still to be his workshop, only once a month the tools would be moved. In those days we called it The Second Story Workshop acknowledging the shared use of the space. Gradually the storytelling took over, the tools were moved back to the basement, and a few years ago the name switched to The Story Barn which was how people referred to it anyway.

We still do Thanksgiving dinner up there with chandeliers, good china and all. The downstairs has our guest bedroom, a bathroom, and the garage.

We are now in our 23rd year of monthly open storytelling for adults. Before the bookshelves and piano went in we could fit 50 people, and did so, regularly. Now there is less space and we only seat 35. It's not unusual to have to turn people away. DD: When we got together you mentioned that the guild has a focus on coaching one another. How does this work? MM: The Guild started a couple of years after the open telling. It has a different purpose and is not a drop-in group, but a group of members. We are currently at 24 members. Each meeting includes a 20 min-ute mini-workshop or sharing of knowledge by one of the members; time to share news and plan Guild events; and the rest of the time is spent coaching each other. We shift the responsibilities each month and every-one takes a turn being either the Magician (which is what we call the chairperson be-cause it takes a magician to keep us in or-der), the Sage (who leads the knowledge-sharing segment) or the Muse (who takes whatever kind of notes he or she thinks would be helpful and/or amusing for those who were not present). The minutes are posted on our Wiki and much of the busi-ness between meetings is conducted there

as well. It works well to have two distinct

groups which meet on two separate nights. The open telling people are there just for the fun of listening and telling, and the Guild members want to work at getting bet-ter and plan events. DD: Have there been any memorable mo-ments at the Storytelling Barn? MM: One time a man was telling a cowboy story and a plastic wind-up horse and rider toy, long broken and now just an ornament on the shelf, started to move, bobbing its way along the shelf. We tried to make it go again but it has not worked since. But then, no one has told a cowboy story since then either!

The trains pass just a block behind us - usually just one an evening but there are so many crossings on the line you can hear the train whistle growing louder as it ap-proaches, then gradually fading away. One night during a cabaret our musical guest, a harmonica player from Nashville, started to play a train song and the train whistle an-swered his harmonica. You should have seen his face! We all got chills, and he did too. He said later he never had an experience like that where the train and the music came to together, riffed off each other, and then faded. DD: What in your opinion is the biggest obstacle we as storytellers are facing these days? And how might we address this aspect? MM: We're not that great at telling our own story. The word storyteller is used to describe authors, film directors, choreog-raphers, poets, songwriters… you name it. We need to define our art and promote it. We need to welcome and encourage tellers at all levels of expertise but acknowledge that not everyone can carry off a stage presentation of a story, or give a compel-ling concert.

What should we do? We need more mentoring, more “straight talk”, more training of the tellers who will represent the art on public stages. We need to let presenters see our best, and we need to be creating and touring more good quality shows. At the same time we need to keep the door open to all because storytelling is not just a performance art, it is a part of life which can and should be shared by all. To learn more about Mary-Eileen McClear go to www.thestorybarn.ca.



GATHERINGS PERFORMANCES

Dan Yashinsky, Storytelling Toronto’s sto-ryteller-in-residence hosts Bread and Sto-ries most Saturday mornings 10-12am at the Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St. Look for the red tent on the west side of the Barns. Open to storytellers, listeners and those who like to “talk” story. Come and be mentored as you try out new or familiar stories. Info:[email protected]

Storytelling Circle every Tuesday at 2:15-3:15pm, 6 St. Joseph St., led by Molly Sut-kaitis. Open to all. (416) 239-1345, [email protected]

1,000 Friday Nights of Storytelling con-tinues every Friday evening at 8pm at the Innis College Café, Sussex Ave. and St. George St., Toronto. Suggested donation: $5. Open to all who wish to listen or tell. (416) 656-2445, www.1001fridays.org

Stories Aloud meets the lst Friday of the month, September through June, 8:00pm, at The Story Barn, in Baden, 89 Snyders Rd. W. http://thestorybarn.ca. Mary-EileenMcClear, [email protected] Open storytelling. Suggested donation: $5

The Baden Storytelling Guild meets on the third Friday of the month, 7:30-10pm at The Story Barn, 89 Snyders Rd W. Info: Mary-Eileen McClear, [email protected]

The Ottawa Storytellers meet for their Story Swap on the first Thursday of the month, 7pm at the Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St, Room 156, free admission. Info: [email protected]

The Ottawa Storytellers also sponsor Sto-ries and Tea every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at The Tea Party, 119 York St., Ottawa, 7pm. Suggested donation: $8 or pay what you can. Info: [email protected]

The 1000 Islands Yarnspinners meet for a

Listings — Winter 2012 story swap on the third Monday of the month at 7pm at the Brockville Museum, 5 Henry Street. PWYC. December 19: Celebrating Christmas – Old and New; January 16: A Sea Full of Stories; February 20: Spells& Tokens – Stories of Magic & Wonder; March 10 He-roes & Heroines. Information: Deborah Dunleavy at 613-342-3463 or [email protected]

The Dufferin Circle of Storytellers meets the 1st Thursday of the month, 7:30pm. Info: Nancy Woods, (519)925-0966.

The Brant Taletellers Guild, welcomes tell-ers and listeners to its monthly gatherings September to June, 7 – 8:45pm, on the first Wednesday at the Station Coffee House and Gallery, beside the Brantford VIA Station. Visitors welcome. Fair Trade coffee, Steam Whistle beer, wine and snacks can be pur-chased during meetings . Info: Barbara Sisson, email [email protected] or phone (519) 756-0727

The Durham Folklore Storytellers (formerly Durham Folklore Society) meets every 3rd Thursday, 7:30-9:30pm in the Seniors Day Activity Room, Northview Com-munity Centre, 150 Beatrice St. E., Oshawa. Info: Dianne Chandler, (905) 985-3424, [email protected]

or www.durhamstorytellers.ca

Cercle de conteurs de l’Est de l’Ontario (CCEO) se réunit aux soirées de contes libres une fois par mois dans diverses communautés de l’Est ontarien. Renseignements:Guy Thibodeau, [email protected], www.cceo.ca

The Hamilton Storytelling Circle will meet Monday May 16 and Thursday June 30, 7:30-9pm at Temple Anshe sholom,215 Cline Ave N., Hamilton. Info: BarryRosen, [email protected]

The Guelph Guild of Storytellers meets the lst Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm at the Cooperators Building, MacDonnel St., and the 2nd Wednesday at 8pm for Stories at the Boathouse, a tea room on the river, Gordon St. Info: Sandy, (519) 767-0017

The Montreal Storytellers Guild meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at the Westmount Library. Info: Christine Mayr, [email protected]

PJs & Pillows presents Happy Birthday Mr. Bear DVD with Sally Jaeger and Erika Web-ster, and Molly Put the Kettle On CD with Carol Ashton on Saturday, November 26, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Pegasus Studio, 361 Glebeholme Blvd. (near Coxwell & Danforth). $5 genreal admission, Wear your PJs and bring your friends. Info: 416-699-2608

The Legless Stocking (Lorne Brown and Cathy Melville) presents Rozhinkes mit Mandln featuring Brian Katz, Michael Wex and Dan Yashinsky. Saturday, November 26, 7:30pm at The Butler’s Pantry, 591 Markham St., Toronto. $22 door or $17 advance or-ders. Tickets: [email protected], www.storytellingtoronto.org Pre-concert dinner available after 6pm.

Two Women Productions (Jan Andrews and Jennifer Cayley) are sponsoring a number of storytelling concerts in the Ottawa region. All performances begin at 7:30pm, $20 door, $18 in advance. www.2wp.ca

Flying in the Dark: A Blind Woman’s Story with teller Kim Kilpatrick. Saturday, Nov. 26 at Full Circle Theatre, 26 Craig St. Perth, ON. Box Office: Tickets Please: 39 Foster St. http://www.barndoorproductions.ca/

The Brothers Grimm: Two Hundred Years and Counting, with storyteller Dale Jarvis and musician Delf Maria Hohmann. Feb. 9, 2012, at Peterborough Market Hall, 336 George St. N. www.markethall.org 705-749-1146; Feb. 10, 2012 at Perth’s Full Circle Theatre, 26 Craig St. http://www.barndoorproductions.ca/ Tickets at Tickets Please, 39 Foster St. www.ticketsplease.ca; Feb. 11, 2012 at Wakefield, PQ Café Molo, 1, chemin Valley. Tickets: 819-459-1028 www.ticketsplease.ca or 613-485-6434

Red Snow Collective in association with To-ronto ALPHA & Aluna Theatre present the world premiere of Red Snow by Diana Tso, directed by Beatriz Pizano, music composed by Alice Ping Yee Ho. January 14-28, 2012 at Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave. 416-504-7529 www.artsboxoffice.ca. Pre-views: Jan 12 & 13 - 7:30pm


The Storytellers School of Toronto gratefully acknowledges the support of the following government agencies:

The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program is sponsoring several workshops early in 2012 taking place at the Centre for Social Innova-tion Annex, 720 Bathurst St., Toronto (near Bloor). Light snacks, coffee, tea and juice will be provided at all workshops. Info: [email protected] www.nald.ca/mothergooseprogram Two-day Teacher Training Workshop with facilitator Ruth Danziger, designed for people who wish to start a Parent-Child Mother Goose program. Saturday January 27, 9:30-4:30, Sunday January 28, 9:30-3:30. Cost

$320 or $280 if registered by Dec. 27. Cost includes Teacher Training manual, Rhymes and Songs booklet, forms booklet and other re-sources. Workshop includes program philoso-phy and objectives, a sampling of the rhymes, songs and stories used and the logistics of running the program. Your Grandma and My Grandma: Connecting Cultures Through the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program focuses on sharing of rhymes, songs and stories in multicultural and single-language groups and working bilingually. Friday, February 17, 9: 30-4:30 at the P-CMGP office in the CSI Annex, 720 Bathurst St. Facilitator: Ruth Danziger. $160 or $145 if registered by Jan. 17. Cost includes a copy of Bounce Me, Tickle Me, Hug Me, a booklet of multicultural childhood rhymes with Eng-lish adaptations and directions for use. Parent-Child Mother Goose Program Story-telling Workshop, March 2, 9:30-4:30, led by Lynda Howes, will nurture one’s understand-ing of storytelling, inspire one to tell stories, will build skills and confidence. Focus will be on storytelling in the infant program. The

cost is $160 or $145 if registered by Feb. 1; includes a copy of You Can Tell a Story, by Celia Barker Lottridge.

WORKSHOPS

This newsletter is made possible in part by a grant from the Ontario Arts Council’s Literary Festivals and Organizations Operating Funding.

What’s new with you? Where are you telling sto-ries? What new books have you read? Whoe did you hear telling stories? Send your submissions to Deb-orah at [email protected]

WHATS UP?

Documents

Vol.17, No.2 An Interview with Mary ... - Storytelling Toronto · Storytelling was a part of every chil-dren's librarian's work back then, but gen-erally a small part, so although