This Summer I had the pleasure of seeing three people, who in various ways I connect with through book publishing, tell stories from the stage at storytelling events. For years I’ve been a big fan of The Moth storytelling radio hour and similar podcasts, so it was a real delight to hear people I actually know tell stories from the stage.
The first two storytellers I saw at one of the amazing monthly shows put on by Odyssey Storytelling of Tucson. The theme for the show was Different. Terry Filipowicz, my cohort on the Book and Movie Biz Genre of the Book and Author Committee for the Tucson Festival of Books (wow, that’s a mouthful), Vice President at Great Potential Press, and Instructor at Pima Community College, and Ethel Lee-Miller (etheleemiller.com), Wheatmark author, writing editor and coach, public speaking coach, and workshop leader, both told charming stories about their experiences of being different from others.
(Odyssey Storytelling’s next show is Sept 6, on the theme Branded. Find more information about it at odysseystorytelling.com.)
The third storyteller I saw was Wheatmark’s own project manager extraordinaire and award-winning journalist, Lori Conser, at an event called Coffee with the Authors: Inspirational Writers Read, who told an affecting story about an incident in her life which forced her to examine her conscience and make a change of heart. You can read more of her work on her blog (http://lsellstrom.blogspot.com.)
I enjoy stories whether written or oral, and encourage writers to go to storytelling events, or listen to storytelling podcasts. They are good fun, and can’t help but make writers better at their craft.
