The told story

"Storytelling is the oldest and surely one of the loveliest of the arts, and when the world was younger, lustier and, in not a few ways, better, than today, it was necessarily one of the most prized, so largely did all the peoples depend on it for their nightly entertainment....

The read story never did, never will come near the benefiting quality of the told story. Two of the essential good qualities of the latter, the former never can capture. The read story may be said to be a dead story, prone on the printed page, entombed between boards, while the told story is a very much alive story, glowing, appealing and dancing with energetic vitality -- the personality and inspiration that the good storyteller can always command into the tale he tells. While the read story may possess the value of the story alone, the told story carries, superimposed on it, the golden worth of a good storyteller's captivating art and enhancing personality -- trebling its wealth."

--from "About Storytelling" by Seumas MacManus.

We are all storytellers

"We all have stories: stories that are handed down in our families, stories and jokes that we hear and retell with small changes, and stories about things that happen to us...

Some of us are professional storytellers, some of us are amateurs, some tell out of choice and some out of necessity,

but we are all storytellers, even if the only stories we tell are stories about why we were late to work this morning."

--Nancy Schimmel, in "Just Enough to Make a Story".

2011 Wintertelling

What a fantastic variety of stories we heard at this year's Wintertelling!



You will be able to hear them too on CATS TV. Check the Channel 3 schedule for times and dates.

Our guests were welcomed by ladies from the library foundation, the sponsor of the program.

Before the stories began we had to figure out new microphones.

Various tellers warmed up in various ways.
Some with considerable energy.

Some sat in the back watching the audience gather and quietly letting their stories simmer in their minds.

And then it was time for tales...

and your photographer was so intrigued with the wonderful stories that she did not get ANY pictures at all of the telling!

Wintertelling

Warm up on a winter's evening with traditional tales retold from the heart Friday

Feb. 11, 2011

Monroe Public Library Auditorium

303 E. Kirkwood Ave.

7:30 pm

Festival of Ghost Stories Coming up!

Do you dare go out in the dark to listen to spooky tales?

An ink-black night with jack-o'-lanterns and fresh cider set the stage for an evening of live storytelling beneath the stars. A Halloween-time tradition for over 30 years, the Festival of Ghost Stories features haunting tales of ghosts and horror that will tingle the spine. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, dress warmly, and avoid the chill ... as seasoned storytellers spin their tales in the dark.

Friday

Oct 22 2010

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Location: Bryan Park


Open to adults, teens, and older school age children. Not appropriate for younger children. In case of inclement weather, the Festival of Ghost Stories will be held at the Monroe County Public Library. For weather-related updates, call the Community Events Hotline at (812) 349-3754.

The Festival of Ghost Stories is a community partnership events sponsored by Bloomington Parks and Recreation, Bloomington Storytellers Guild, and Monroe County Public Library.

Get ready!

"Something horrible is coming this way...

creeping closer, day by day..."

I tell you, we'd all better have our ghost stories ready!

If you haven't talked with Stephanie about telling at the annual Festival of Ghost Stories, please get in touch with her!

We'll be auditioning on Thursday, October 14 in Room 1B of the Monroe County Main Library at 5:30pm. You can stay a while and hear all the “auditions” (very informal) or just drop in to tell your own tale.

(credit for the quote to Harve Zemach "The Judge")

Annual Fall Picnic

We had a lovely evening for our gathering in Bryan Park - cool and pleasant.

Besides food and conversation we heard some stories about the Guild's past and a wonderful tale about a dinosaur cat. "Actually," the teller warned "it might be too scary."

It was just right!