When we were kids, we used to beg our parents to drive us down to the local library for story time. A little dorky, but you know what? I never really outgrew my childhood love of listening to stories. It turns out I'm not the only one.
I recently attended an event with a friend back in Boston called MassMouth. They hold events where a subject is chosen ahead of time, and anyone can sign up to tell their own story. It works a bit like a spoken word version of karaoke, and it was pretty entertaining. In the same vein, the national organization StoryCorps is dedicated to preserving the oral history of our generation by conducting in studio recordings by appointment and providing resources to create your own recordings at home. A personal favorite version of mine is Literary Death Match, an international series of competitions where local authors come out and perform excerpts from their own works, both fiction and non-fiction. I attended one in Ireland and got a greater sense of appreciation for the local culture than I did from any other part of my visit.
If you have any other suggestions for similar organizations or events, feel free to share in the comments below.
(Image: Dalton Rooney via StoryCorps)
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I attended last year an oriental brunch event here in Berlin. It took place in bedouin tent, everybody sitting on big cushions, enjoying the oriental buffet. And there was a fairy tale teller, he narrated old oriental fairy tales while we were eating. He had a magnificent voice and it was fun to listen to him. Everybody, old and young, was in awe.
Unfortunately i forgot which organization organised it actually, but i think the idea of combining food and tales is nice.
In Dallas: You're Being Ridiculous
Both are great programs!
Ah, STUPID HTML. Here is what I meant to say:
In Dallas: Oral Fixation
In Chicago: You're Being Ridiculous
There is The Moth a multi-city storytelling project broadcast on National Public Radio. www.themoth.org
In DC, there is Speakeasy DC. (www.speakeasydc.com). They have classes on how to tell a story and also have regularly scheduled events with people telling their stories based on a theme. I went to the one last year around Valentine's Day and had an amazing time.
The worst thing about StoryCorps is that it usually plays on NPR ~after~ I've put my makeup on and then I have to retouch my mascara b/c they always find a way to make me cry. Storytelling is an art form everyone can appreciate.
Toronto Public Library's "Human Library" Event just happened. Neat stuff. http://torontoist.com/2011/10/it%E2%80%99s-alive-the-human-library-breathes-life-into-an-age-old-pastime/
I meant to post a more recent link, and it's nation-wide, not just in Toronto:
http://humanlibrary.org/national-human-library-day-in-canada.html
National Storytelling Festival, Jonesborough, TN
http://www.storytellingcenter.net/festival/
The Moth http://themoth.org/
StoryCollider: http://storycollider.org/
In my own community, we do Moth-style story slams at local coffeeshop and many local public radio stations have their own story-telling initiatives.