Book Release Party

The Scenic Route: Stories from the Heartland
Book Release Party

Sponsored by Frank and Katrina Basile
Indiana History Center Basile Theater
450 W. Ohio St.
Indianapolis, IN
7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: $10 / Advance, $12/Door
Call 317-232-1882

In celebration of its 20th birthday, Storytelling Arts of Indiana is thrilled to announce an event celebrating the November 2007 release of the new IHS Press publication The Scenic Route: Stories from the Heartland, published with the generous support of Frank and Katrina Basile. The event will take place Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m., at the Indiana History Center, located in downtown Indianapolis at 450 W. Ohio St.

Since 1999, Storytelling Arts of Indiana and the Indiana Historical Society have worked together to create events and programs that recognize the importance of storytelling in our cultural identity and heritage. In this tradition, the public is invited to enjoy an exciting evening at the Indiana History Center, including performances in the Basile Theater from the four Hoosier storytellers featured in The Scenic Route – Lou Ann Homan, Liza Hyatt, Bob Sander and George Schricker.

The Midwestern-themed stories included in The Scenic Route were compiled from the works of a dozen storytellers, including the evening’s four entertainers. The book is the second collaborative publication from Storytelling Arts of Indiana and the Indiana Historical Society – in 2005, the two organizations jointly released the CD Stories from the Heartland.

A reception with complimentary refreshments will follow the performances, and CD and books will be available for purchase and signing with the evening’s storytellers. Guests can purchase the CD and the book together for $17 (a $5 savings). The Basile Theater is wheelchair accessible and has a state-of-the-art sound system.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. To order tickets or for more information, call the Indiana History Center at (317) 232-1882 or (800) 447-1830.† Free parking is available at the Indiana History Center in its parking lot at the corner of West and New York Streets.

About the Storytellers

Lou Ann Homan can be found nestled in the hills of northern Indiana, gardening at her home at White Picket Gardens or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller; a teacher; a writer; an actress, and a collector of front-porch stories, whose lyrical voice voids time and space and sends the listener’s imagination dancing back to childhood. Homan takes her tales into the back roads of Indiana performing at festivals, schools, libraries, and yes, on many a front porch. For more information visit ww.louannhoman.com or contact her at locketoftime@aol.com

Liza Hyatt has been a professional storyteller since 1989. She has performed throughout central Indiana at schools, museums, libraries, and festivals. She performs world folktales, historical stories, and personal stories with heroes who become wise by daring to explore community, nature, and creativity. Her love of storytelling originated in childhood. Raised by parents who considered themselves book-loving weirdos in a rural Indiana town, stories were always part of daily life. With bookshelves in every room of the house, Hyatt grew up reading, listening to stories read to her; and began writing her own stories at an early age. For more information visit http://www.heart-of-art-studio.com/ or contact her at lizah2@lizahyatt.com.

Bob Sander is a fourth-generation resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, the city where his German American ancestors arrived after the Civil War. Sander remains in the Hoosier capital because, for better and for worse, the fabric of all his life stories is woven there. He’s like a square of a quilt now and content to be so. While Sander loves (and tells) stories from elsewhere in the form of folktales, more and more he gravitates toward tales from his life that are all totally true, or should be. A vegetarian, he hunts and consumes mostly humor. For more information visit http://www.bobsander.com/ or contact him at sandertales@aol.com.

George Schricker, a Northwestern University interdepartmental studies graduate, has practiced his original and creative work for over thirty years. He has performed poetry in bookstores and coffeehouses in New York City and Washington, D.D., told stories at numerous storytelling festivals, and sung songs with symphony orchestras in Indiana and Illinois. His essay, “A Muffled Humming Like the Droning of the Bees,” appears in Where We Live: Essays about Indiana, published by Indiana University Press. His latest children’s recording is entitled, George’s Brother. George lives in Plymouth, Indiana, with his wife, Michele, and son, Ezra. For more information visit http://www.heartmindproductions.com/ or write to heartmind@hoosierlink.net.