Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation or instilling moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view. The term "storytelling" can refer specifically to oral storytelling but also broadly to techniques used in other media to unfold or disclose the narrative of a story.
Ruth Sawyer was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1965 for her lifetime achievement in children's literature.
Peggy Pettitt is an American actress, dancer, teacher, playwright, and storyteller. Pettitt is best known for her role as Billie Jean in the 1972 family–drama film Black Girl, starring alongside Brock Peters and Claudia McNeil. Pettitt is a native of St. Louis, Missouri.
Nokugcina Elsie Mhlophe, known as Gcina Mhlophe, is a South African storyteller, writer, playwright, and actress. In 2016 she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women. She tells her stories in four of South Africa's languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa, and also helps to motivate children to read.
Antonio Sacre is an American author, solo performer, and storyteller. He writes and performs internationally, in English and Spanish.
Andy Offutt Irwin is an American storyteller, singer-songwriter, and humorist. Born and raised in Covington, Georgia, a small town outside of Atlanta, Irwin began his career in 1984 with an improvisational comedy troupe at Walt Disney World. After five years he shifted to performing as a singer-songwriter, touring the Southeast. In the mid-1990s, Irwin branched into performances for children.
Carmen Agra Deedy is an author of children’s literature, storyteller and radio contributor.
Judith Ann Jamison is an American dancer and choreographer. She is the artistic director emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Connie Regan-Blake is an American storyteller, author, and workshop facilitator. Regan-Blake is well-known for her role as part of The Folktellers storytelling duo. She was a founding member of the National Storytelling Network or NSN. Regan-Blake served as the Artistic Director from 1975 until 1983. She was awarded the Circle of Excellence in 1996 by the National Storytelling Network after being recognized by her peers as a master storyteller. She has appeared onstage as a featured performer or emcee at every National Storytelling Festival since its inception in 1973.
Elizabeth Ellis is an American storyteller and author known for her live performances of traditional tales, literature, Texas and Appalachian history and folklore, and personal memoir. She was awarded the Circle of Excellence in 1997 by the National Storytelling Network after being recognized by her peers as a master storyteller. She is a regular performer at the National Storytelling Festival. She was selected as a "Listener's Choice" at the 30th Anniversary National Storytelling Festival and a Storyteller-In-Residence at the International Storytelling Center. She was the first recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award from the Tejas Storytelling Association.
Bobby Norfolk is an American storyteller and arts educator.
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival takes place Labor Day weekend at the end of each summer in Lehi, Utah. The festival draws a combined attendance of about 26,000 people each year, making it one of the largest storytelling festival in the United States. The festival typically lasts two days and invites professional storytellers from throughout the United States. In addition to daytime performances on Friday and Saturday, there are typically themed public performances in the evenings, such as Look Who's Talking, Bedtime Stories, My Favorite Stories, and Laughing' Night.
Oral storytelling is an ancient and intimate tradition between the storyteller and their audience. The storyteller and the listeners are physically close, often seated together in a circular fashion. The intimacy and connection is deepened by the flexibility of oral storytelling which allows the tale to be moulded according to the needs of the audience and the location or environment of the telling. Listeners also experience the urgency of a creative process taking place in their presence and they experience the empowerment of being a part of that creative process. Storytelling creates a personal bond with the teller and the audience.
Hugh Morgan Hill who performed as Brother Blue, was an American educator, storyteller, actor, musician, and street performer based principally in the Boston area. After serving as First Lieutenant from 1943 to 1946 in the segregated United States Army in World War II and being honorably discharged, he received a BA from Harvard College in 1948, was accepted into the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) before transferring to receive a MFA from the Yale School of Drama and a Ph.D. from the Union Institute, having delivered his doctoral presentation at Boston's Deer Island Prison, accompanied by a 25-piece jazz orchestra, with a video recording for his dissertation committee's further consideration. While performing frequently at U.S. National Storytelling Festivals and flown abroad by organizations and patrons from England to Russia and the Bahamas, Brother Blue regularly performed on the streets around Cambridge, most notably in Harvard Square. He was the Official Storyteller of Boston and of Cambridge by resolutions of both city councils.
Liz Weir is a Northern Irish children's writer and storyteller. She is currently Storyteller in Residence in Belfast and has written 27 stories. She is involved in a number of storytelling organisations including The Early Years Organisation, where she talks to children about racism, anti-bullying and respect for the elderly.
Judith Malika Liberman is a French storyteller, writer and teacher currently living in Turkey. When she was 14, she learned storytelling in a French commune and has gone on to reintroduce the telling of Anatolian fairy tales in Turkey.
Linda Goss, sometimes known professionally as Mama Linda, is an American storyteller and performer in the African diasporic oral tradition. She is a co-founder of the National Association of Black Storytellers, which works to preserve folk traditions.
Vayu Naidu is a British Indian storyteller, performer and writer. The author of Sita's Ascent and Under the Banyam, she is credited with coining the term 'performance storytelling'.
Sandra Agard Hon. FRSL is a British storyteller, writer, literary consultant and cultural historian. She is a published author of short stories and poetry, and for more than 40 years has performed her work, including plays, within the UK as well as internationally. She has worked in libraries as a literature development officer, as well as in art galleries and with community groups in many other settings. In 2022, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) and was the recipient of the RSL's Benson Medal.
Jan Blake is a British storyteller, consultant and coach specialising in myths and folk tales from the Caribbean, West Africa, North Africa and beyond. She has been performing to children, adolescents and adults since 1986 and has an international reputation for dynamic storytelling.
