The Power of Story

Texas Storytelling Festival celebrates oral tradition in a new venue.

hether it’s a dark and stormy night, or a glum and soggy afternoon, the atmosphere will be fun and festive at the 23rd Texas Storytelling Festival— which is moving indoors. The 2008 event is set for April 10-13 in Hubbard Hall on the campus of Texas Woman’s University.

“We had really bad weather last year. And after surveying the membership, we found that most would prefer a festival that was inside,” says Cristin Thomas, executive director of the Tejas Storytelling Association, which hosts the annual event. “We were ecstatic when we found out TWU was an option for us.”

>>Stories as Art

Celebrating a unique art form, the Texas Storytelling Festival focuses on oral tradition with a tri-fold goal of promoting literacy, teaching the skill of storytelling, and entertaining the audience. Hosting local, regional, and national tellers, the event runs the gamut of genres: hair-raising to heart-warming, tall tales to true stories, cowboy poetry to live music, along with Native American lore, Jewish traditions, Cuban folktales, children’s stories, and more.

“We have some of the most talented tellers in Texas, and we also have the capability of bringing gifted tellers that are nationally known,” Thomas says.

>>Talented Tellers

National tellers include award-winning Carmen Agra Deedy, a bilingual teller and author of numerous best-selling children’s books, who is making her first appearance at the Denton event. “She’s hysterical,” Thomas says.

Tim Tingle, acclaimed storyteller and award-winning author of Native American fiction and folklore, will be returning to the festival, as will Doug Lipman, a professional storyteller, storytelling coach, and musician for over 25 years.

Lipman says his audiences can expect “stories that kind of move you and change your perspective just a bit.” His stories come from a variety of customs, especially Jewish mystical tradition, and are not familiar to most people.

Throughout the festival, audience members will get to experience great stories, as well as a sense of community from sharing the occasion with others.

“If they’ve never been to a storytelling festival, they will get a whole weekend where they get to roam in the land of their own imagination—with expert guides,” Lipman says. “That’s something we don’t do very much in our society—listen carefully and delightedly while someone talks. And we’re willing to do it because the stories are so good and because we get this flex of imagination muscle.”

In addition to the three national tellers, the festival will also showcase regional talent, including motivational speaker and Christian humorist James Ford; Onions in the Stew: Tales of the Scots-Irish author Donna Lively; and “The Old Texan” Doc Moore, who brings more than 35 years of public school and university teaching experience to his historic, folk, ghost, and inspirational stories.

>>Festival Favorites

Although the location is new, the festival continues its longtime favorites. Ghost Tales promises to spook on Thursday night, while Tiny Tales for Tiny Tots returns Friday morning at the Denton Center for the Visual Arts. Storytelling is ongoing all day and into the evening on Friday and Saturday, as well as much of the day Sunday. Friday morning is field trip day, Saturday morning is the traditional Native American concert, and the annual Talespinner Party—a catered dinner and silent auction fundraiser—concludes the evening.

The festival also hosts 10 or 12 storytelling workshops and a few master classes. The popular Swapping Grounds is perfect for those itching to try their yarn-spinning skills. “It’s an open ground for anybody who wants to try out a story,” Thomas says. “A lot of times tellers will sit around and toss stories back and forth. It’s open for play.”

Filled with captivating tales, educational workshops, and a storytelling gift shop, the 23rd Texas Storytelling Festival offers festivalgoers a full weekend of entertainment. “

Actually, storytelling is within all of our daily lives—people just don’t realize it,” Thomas says. “This is a festival that is promoting that art form, allowing people to acknowledge what art they have inside themselves—and that’s the power of story.”