Storytelling Arts of Indiana

In the 80s, I heard my first professional storyteller tell stories to a roomful of adults. His name was George Shannon, a former children’s librarian who had also published several children’s picture books. I remember the experience so clearly. It was like Shannon looked out into the audience, saw my face and selected a story that I needed to hear. The story, Lanterns: A Chinese Tale of Almost Everything, touched my soul and I was hooked.

It wasn’t too many months later that Bob Sander, Nancy Barton and I traveled to Louisville to attend The Corn Island Storytelling Festival. For three days, we listened to stories and we still wanted more. We joined the national storytelling organization at the time (now known as the National Storytelling Network) to find more storytelling events in the region. Six months later we drove to St. Louis for another few days of stories. It was during this festival that we began telling people that we were going to start a festival in Indianapolis.

Lucky for us, the national organization was hosting a five-day institute on planning a festival. Bob and I flew to Jonesborough, Tenn., and met Jim May, Jimmy Neil Smith and many others. From our five days of notes and many hours of planning, we produced the First Annual Hoosier Storytelling Festival on August 13, 1988, on the grounds of Conner Prairie.

The festival began with more than 100 individuals wanting to attend a workshop presented by Carol Birch. It was a great way to begin the day, but the classroom only held 50. People were willing to sit on the floor just so they could hear what she had to say!

Many friends, family members and acquaintances helped us organize that first event. During the planning, we soon realized that the possibilities for storytelling were endless, so we founded Stories, Inc. (now known as Storytelling Arts of Indiana).  We are now one of only a few storytelling organizations in the nation that offers a full season of performances, not just a festival. Over the last 20 years, we have brought more than 80 storytellers from around the world to reach Hoosier audiences. We have developed programs to improve the lives of those we touch, such as the bedside stories at Riley Hospital for Children, our As I Recall Storytelling Guild, and performances in Indianapolis inner city parks.

It never occurred to me that I would choose to leave a career that I loved to work full-time for Storytelling Arts of Indiana, but in the fall of 1992, I resigned from the Carmel Clay Public Library and took the plunge. Since that time, I have traveled to connect with the storytelling communities in China, Ireland and Scotland. I’ve met such interesting, fun and talented people, and it brings me so much joy to share my love of storytelling with you.

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