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Press Play to hear Loren Niemi who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on Honoring Elders and Apprentices on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

Loren Niemi writes…
I’ve been a storyteller for 30 plus years and yet in so many ways I feel like a beginner learning how to do now, what I learned how to do then. It is – LOL – a very “Zen and now” approach to storytelling: beginner’s mind.

At this point in time, I understand clearly and fondly what a gift I received when I came to storytelling. The gift of generous mentors – specifically, Ken Feit and Rueven Gold – who took a “Zen and now” approach offering friendship, access, who posed and (sometimes) answered questions, encouraged and gave permission for me to find and develop my own voice rather than adopt theirs. They welcomed me wherever they were telling and often made space for me to tell a story at those gatherings.

They were prolific in suggesting, cajoling, handing me books and lists of books to read that would ground me in the storytelling traditions. It is one of the laments I have about a significant portion of those coming into storytelling now, that they do not read (or feel they have to read) widely and deeply. My mentors understood the value of reading anthropology, mythology, theater, folklore collections as well as the importance of listening to stories and storytellers of all kinds from many traditions to enrich our understanding of the power of this art and the breadth of its reach across cultures.

They are dead now, but the stories I heard them tell still resonate for me. What they taught directly and indirectly has served me well over these many years. Many of the tellers (Marshall Dodge, Ray Hicks, Gamble Rogers, Jackie Torrence, Duncan Willimson) who were here at the beginning of the American Storytelling Revival are dead now but I was fortunate to have heard them and cherish the fact of it.

As the generation that is the root of our storytelling culture pass, I also understand that I have been at this long enough to be able to mentor others. I welcome the opportunity. It is consistent with the tradition of storytelling apprenticeship. It is both a responsibility and a pleasure to nourish “tongues of fire.” It is not a matter of ego or authority, but an understanding that if storytelling is to flourish I have a vested interest in passing on to those who would take it, the gift of craft and knowing.

Inevitably I will pass. But stories, perhaps even some of mine, will abide and I would hope that as I have honored my elders I will have shared the joy and terror which is storytelling with my apprentices.

Loren Niemi Bio

“I began as a child fibber
but soon discovered that I was less interested
in telling lies than I was in improving the truth.”

Storytelling is also the only sensible explanation Loren Niemi can offer for forty plus years as a community organizer and public policy consultant, trainer and Lobbyist working with non-profit groups to articulate their dreams, shape their messages, and resolve their conflicts.

Loren has also spent thirty as a professional storyteller, creating, collecting, performing and teaching stories to audiences of all ages in urban and rural settings. He has served as the Humanities Scholar in Residence for Northern Minnesota, the ringmaster and tour manager of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre’s Circle of Water Circus, and is one third of BAD JAZZ, a performance art trio with Michael Sommers and Kevin Kling, experimenting with theatrical and storytelling forms. His work has been called “post-modern,” “on the cutting edge of storytelling,” “with the dark beauty of language that is not ashamed of poetry.” It is, as storyteller, Kate Lutz said, “a sensibility that owes more to the New Yorker than to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.”

He is the co-author, with Elizabeth Ellis, of Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories, from August House Publishers and the author of The Book of Plots, on the uses of narratives in creating oral and written stories, published by Llumina Press.

Loren has a BA (Philosophy and Studio Arts) from St. Mary’s College (Winona, MN) and a MA in Liberal Studies (concentration: American Culture) from Hamline University (St. Paul, MN). He teaches Storytelling in the Communications Department of Metropolitan State University (St. Paul, MN) as well as providing organizational and corporate message framing, storytelling branding and community building workshops around the country.

Loren was one of the founders of the Northlands Storytelling Network, a five state storytelling education and advocacy organization, and spent four years as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network, the 3000 plus member advocate and promoter of America’s storytelling revival. He was the 2005 recipient of the Oracle award for national leadership and service.

Today my students turned in their narratives.  I couldn’t wait to read them, so I began today during my lunch.  I was touched by their writing, and impressed by the significant revisions many of them made.  Tonight (as my kids were coloring) I looked over the narratives again and began to pile them according to strength.  [...]

Tune in to hear Connie Regan-Blake on the Art of Storytelling with Children Podcast at 8pm ET on Wednesday. Join the Email Alert list to get the invitation.

Connie writes…
It was October 7, 1973, in Jonesborough, Tennessee – an afternoon that changed my life . . . and the course of storytelling in the United States. The setting was the first National Storytelling Festival.

I had been hired two years earlier by the Public Library in Chattanooga, TN, as a full time storyteller - another life changing event for me. So when I heard about a festival devoted to storytelling, I was thrilled - and knew I had to go. My cousin, Barbara Freeman, who was also a teller, was up for the adventure so we jumped in her little yellow truck and headed off on an adventure.

There I met and heard Ray Hicks, who was to become the patriarch of Southern Traditional Storytelling. He was perched on a flatbed truck, telling Jack Tales to a group of 35 of us, sitting on folding chairs in front of the County Courthouse, hanging onto his every word. When they asked if anyone in the audience wanted to tell, I jumped at the chance and have been involved ever since.

That day, I also met Jimmy Neil Smith, who had the brilliant idea to have a storytelling festival. His vision included an organization to promote the art of storytelling and two years later “NAPPS” came to life – the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling. With the town’s support for seed money, a Board of Directors and lots of volunteers, the word began spreading.

And now, over three decades later, storytelling is thriving. That first intimate gathering inspired many to go home and start their own events. Now hundreds of storytelling festivals take place in almost every state in America and around the world from New Zealand to Austria. Today Jonesborough is home to the International Storytelling Center. The National Festival continues to be the premiere storytelling event in the country with an audience that has grown from the original 35 listeners to over 10,000 people who make the journey every year to listen to and tell stories. For many, it is a transformative experience; reawakening the comfort, joy, and pathos that is storytelling. Elizabeth Ellis sums it up best – “The festival is more fun than you can stand!”

For my own professional path, storytelling has taken me across the world. As a partner with Barbara Freeman, we were known as The Folktellers for 20 years and trail-blazed the art of tandem telling. During the past decade I have continued telling stories as a solo performer and workshop leader, as well as collaborating on a unique blend of storytelling and chamber music with the Kandinsky Trio.

Every autumn since 1973, I continue to be drawn to Jonesborough, and welcomed onstage with the distinct honor of being either a featured teller or an emcee. Now, after almost 40 years as a fulltime, professional storyteller, my life’s work continues to be a privilege and a blessing. And I always remember, as the storyteller I have the best seat on the house!

Bio

Connie Regan-Blake is one of America’s most celebrated storytellers. She has captivated the hearts and imaginations of people around the globe with her powerful performances and workshops. Entertaining audiences in 47 states and 16 countries, she brings the wisdom, humor and drama of stories to main stage concert halls, libraries and into the corporate world.

Both as a solo artist and a member of the acclaimed Folktellers duo, Connie has been featured on seven award-winning recordings – five audio and two videos produced by PBS. New Age Magazine, School Library Journal, and Southern Living have praised her work. She has been a guest on NPR’s All Things Considered, ABC Good Morning America and CNN.

When Connie takes the stage she generates a brightness and warmth, drawing in listeners with her engaging humor and Southern charm. Her stories range from hilarious traditional Appalachian Mountain tales to poignant true-life drama. A consummate professional, Connie’s rare talent can transform a convention hall into a wondrous landscape and turn a packed theater into an intimate circle of friends.

Connie has performed at the nation’s top folk music and storytelling festivals in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, as well as the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Her groundbreaking collaboration with the Kandinsky Trio - an innovative blend of storytelling and chamber music - has been hailed as a “new art form.”

As a founding board member of the National Storytelling Association (formerly NAPPS), and a frequent host and featured performer at the National Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, Connie helped ignite and shape the American storytelling revival.

Connie resides with her husband, two dogs and a frisky cat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. For more info, see www.storywindow.com

Tune in to hear Connie Regan-Blake on the Art of Storytelling with Children Podcast at 8pm ET on Wednesday. Join the Email Alert list to get the invitation.

Connie writes…
It was October 7, 1973, in Jonesborough, Tennessee – an afternoon that changed my life . . . and the course of storytelling in the United States. The setting was the first National Storytelling Festival.

I had been hired two years earlier by the Public Library in Chattanooga, TN, as a full time storyteller - another life changing event for me. So when I heard about a festival devoted to storytelling, I was thrilled - and knew I had to go. My cousin, Barbara Freeman, who was also a teller, was up for the adventure so we jumped in her little yellow truck and headed off on an adventure.

There I met and heard Ray Hicks, who was to become the patriarch of Southern Traditional Storytelling. He was perched on a flatbed truck, telling Jack Tales to a group of 35 of us, sitting on folding chairs in front of the County Courthouse, hanging onto his every word. When they asked if anyone in the audience wanted to tell, I jumped at the chance and have been involved ever since.

That day, I also met Jimmy Neil Smith, who had the brilliant idea to have a storytelling festival. His vision included an organization to promote the art of storytelling and two years later “NAPPS” came to life – the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling. With the town’s support for seed money, a Board of Directors and lots of volunteers, the word began spreading.

And now, over three decades later, storytelling is thriving. That first intimate gathering inspired many to go home and start their own events. Now hundreds of storytelling festivals take place in almost every state in America and around the world from New Zealand to Austria. Today Jonesborough is home to the International Storytelling Center. The National Festival continues to be the premiere storytelling event in the country with an audience that has grown from the original 35 listeners to over 10,000 people who make the journey every year to listen to and tell stories. For many, it is a transformative experience; reawakening the comfort, joy, and pathos that is storytelling. Elizabeth Ellis sums it up best – “The festival is more fun than you can stand!”

For my own professional path, storytelling has taken me across the world. As a partner with Barbara Freeman, we were known as The Folktellers for 20 years and trail-blazed the art of tandem telling. During the past decade I have continued telling stories as a solo performer and workshop leader, as well as collaborating on a unique blend of storytelling and chamber music with the Kandinsky Trio.

Every autumn since 1973, I continue to be drawn to Jonesborough, and welcomed onstage with the distinct honor of being either a featured teller or an emcee. Now, after almost 40 years as a fulltime, professional storyteller, my life’s work continues to be a privilege and a blessing. And I always remember, as the storyteller I have the best seat on the house!

Bio

Connie Regan-Blake is one of America’s most celebrated storytellers. She has captivated the hearts and imaginations of people around the globe with her powerful performances and workshops. Entertaining audiences in 47 states and 16 countries, she brings the wisdom, humor and drama of stories to main stage concert halls, libraries and into the corporate world.

Both as a solo artist and a member of the acclaimed Folktellers duo, Connie has been featured on seven award-winning recordings – five audio and two videos produced by PBS. New Age Magazine, School Library Journal, and Southern Living have praised her work. She has been a guest on NPR’s All Things Considered, ABC Good Morning America and CNN.

When Connie takes the stage she generates a brightness and warmth, drawing in listeners with her engaging humor and Southern charm. Her stories range from hilarious traditional Appalachian Mountain tales to poignant true-life drama. A consummate professional, Connie’s rare talent can transform a convention hall into a wondrous landscape and turn a packed theater into an intimate circle of friends.

Connie has performed at the nation’s top folk music and storytelling festivals in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, as well as the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Her groundbreaking collaboration with the Kandinsky Trio - an innovative blend of storytelling and chamber music - has been hailed as a “new art form.”

As a founding board member of the National Storytelling Association (formerly NAPPS), and a frequent host and featured performer at the National Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, Connie helped ignite and shape the American storytelling revival.

Connie resides with her husband, two dogs and a frisky cat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. For more info, see www.storywindow.com

I’m getting ready for Family-Teacher Conferences tomorrow. As I do, I’m putting together folders for each family, which includes the following things: A reading & word work assessment profile with each student’s score and the benchmarks The most recent math test Each student’s most recent on-demand assessment (for personal narrative) Suggestions for helping students with writing at-home, inspired [...]

This summer I heard Penny Kittle speak about using storyboards.  This week I’ve tried them out in classrooms.  They aren’t all that different from one of the ways I talk to kids about planning.  I encourage them to think in scenes & then sketch in their notebook a flow chart of sorts, using pictures and [...]

I’ve found that my demonstrations run a little long if I’m not adequately prepared. When I say “not adequately prepared,” I mean that if I don’t have recent writing to support my minilesson in my current writer’s notebook, I feel unprepared since the stuff I’m sharing with my kids feels old and often distant [...]

In many of the classrooms I’m working in, we are moving into a Personal Narrative study.  I asked teachers to gather books they would like to use to anchor their teaching.  Below is a list of some of the texts: A Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel and David Catrow Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very [...]

I worked on the Reading-Writing Connections Document for Those Shoes this evening. Here’s an example of the way I set it up: Craft Move Page Number(s) Why the Author Might Be Doing This… Varied Sentence Lengths Pgs. ,2, 15 & 30 One thing writers do is vary the lengths of their sentences when they write. If an author wants [...]

In honor of Lils we are highlighting the work I created that she has beautifully inspired. For The Love of Dog book, fantasy stories and art, offered here. Lilibeth's Dance Lesson card and assortment pack, offered here, and Lilibeth Soars and the Birthday Party print. All offered at my etsy store.

Comments about For The Love of Dog:
"This is the cutest book I've ever seen or read! What an imagination you have. It was a joy to read and I know the friend for whom I bought it will love it!" - silverflowers on etsy