You're a natural..

"...That's how I remember things, anyway. I remember stories.  I connect the dots and then out of that comes a story.  And the dots that don't fit into the story just slide away, maybe.  Like when you spot a constellation.  You look up and you don't see all the stars.  All the stars just look like the big fugging random mess that they are.  But you want to see shapes; you want to see stories, so you pick them out of the sky.  Hassan told me once you think like that, too --that you see connections everywhere --so you're a natural born storyteller, it turns out."

from An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.

Kentucky Folktales

Check out Mary Hamilton's new book:

Then sign up for her upcoming workshop in Bloomington!

Setting the stage

Here's the same storytime space set for three watery themes:

 Under water;

 In the Rain;

and Bath Time.

Preschoolers love guessing the themes while they wait for stories to begin!

Workshop coming!

Guild to Host Community Storytelling Workshops.  Sign up today! 

Storyteller and story coach Mary Hamilton

The Bloomington Storytellers Guild brings national storyteller and story coach, Mary Hamilton, to Bloomington for a beginner’s workshop and a master class.

2 Storytelling Workshops set for July.

Saturday, July 21, 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-3 p.m.

Unitarian Universalist Church

2120 North Fee Lane, Bloomington Indiana 47408

___________________________________________________

Workshop Descriptions.

Beginner’s Storytelling Workshop.  Inspiring and entertaining lecture-demo on the essentials of storytelling with activities for learning to shape retellings.  This workshop will be useful for anyone getting started in storytelling and will be interesting to advanced storytellers who might want to lead workshops themselves.

Master Class featuring advanced storytellers. Space limited.

This session focuses on ways that storytellers can help each other work through the process of preparing a story for performance. The session engages the audience and other tellers in learning response techniques to help colleagues develop and improve their stories and storytelling.  Workshop includes options to respond or simply listen and observe.

Fee and Early Discount

$25 in advance, or at the door

$20 Early Registration Discount - Registration received before July 7.

          *Registration is a single amount and covers the entire day.  Choose to attend one or both workshops for the same fee.  Please be sure to indicate which sessions you plan to attend.

Workshops Schedule

Location:  Unitarian Universalist Church, Bloomington

9:00 - 9:30 a.m.      On site registration and coffee

Fellowship Hall

9:30 - 11:30 a.m.    Essentials of Storytelling: A Beginner’s Workshop

Fellowship Hall

 

Lunch on your own  brown bag or travel to nearby restaurants

1:00 - 3:00 p.m.      Master Class  (space is limited)

Library, 2nd floor

Reserve a Space.  Register Now

Registration available at the door if space is available.

Advance registration is preferred.

Questions, email libyq@yahoo.com or call 812-829-4770.

To Register

Send an email

To:   libyq@yahoo.com

INCLUDE:

1.  your name

2.  mailing address

3.  email address

4.  phone number

5.  Sessions you plan to attend:  Morning, Afternoon, or BOTH

6.  Are you new to storytelling, just starting, or a practicing storyteller?

Payment (check or cash)

Make checks payable to:  Stephanie Holman

1.  Mail your registration fee to: 

          Bloomington Storytellers Guild

          Stephanie Holman, Treasurer

          713 Bass Haven Lane

          Spencer, IN  47460

2.  OR pay at the door

Confirmation

You will receive a registration confirmation via email

More than just a meeting

Our spring meeting included, as promised, stories - amusing, thought-provoking and inspiring.  And snacks - a table full of various goodies.  And more than that-- it became an enthusiastic planning session and those in attendance became:

your newly formed Guild planning committee!

Just keep watching for all the exciting things we have coming!

Spring Meeting!

It is time for our Spring Storytellers Guild meeting!

Put this on your calendar:

Friday, April 20, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

At the Unitarian Universalist Church on Fee Lane, in the Library (second floor).  Easy access from rear door.

Stories, snacks, some summer planning...see you there!

Stories have changed...

“Stories have changed, my dear boy, " the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad.  “There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue.  Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case.  There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings.  The quests lack clarity of goal or path.  The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are.  

And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise.  Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead.  Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl.

 And is not the dragon the hero of his own story?  Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act?  Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.”

From : The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern