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     Monday, September 7, 2015
Issue # 176

Got some news or information you would like to get out to the storytelling community?
Contact Mark Goldman -x602-390-3858x - Mark@Storytellermark.com

               THE VALLEY IS CHOCK FULL OF STORYTELLING EVENTS

STILL A FEW SLOTS LEFT

Donald Davis Workshop - Sept 11-13
Liz Warren and The SMCC Storytelling Institute invite you to join master storyteller and teacher Donald Davis for an intensive weekend workshop on finding stories that you didn’t know you had. Donald will lead the group in an experience to tap memory and to shape personal and family-based stories. This is an excellent workshop for tellers AND for teachers & coaches! 

What you will learn:

  • Techniques for accessing memory for stories and story elements
  • Strategies for crafting effective stories
  • Tactics for telling to capture stories in heartfelt and meaningful ways
  • Methods for coaching storytellers that foster creative freedom and safety
Workshop Agenda:
Fri, Sept. 11 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Introduction and Orientation
Sat, Sept. 12    8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m Workshop Activities
Sun, Sept. 13  8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Workshop Activities
 
 
 
 
 
Fees:  The fee for the workshop is $300 (payable to Donald Davis) and includes lunch both days, as well as snacks and beverages throughout the workshop.
 
Location:  The workshop will be held at the home of Liz Warren. Details when you register.
 
Deadline to register is Wednesday, September 9, 2015.
Please respond to Liz Warren at liz.warren@southmountaincc.edu or call 602-243-8026.
 

New Two-Saturday Classes Pack a Wallop!

The first of a new series of two all-day Storytelling Classes just wrapped up two Saturdays of Storytelling in Advocacy Settings, taught by Doug Bland. It was an eye-opening course with three guest speakers and a wealth of information.

Sixteen students learned all the ins and outs of advocating and using stories to convey their passions for their causes. Students tested their mettle by presenting their stories to the entire class. Passion and pride were revealed as each teller inspired the group with tales of their chosen causes.

This was just the first of many two-Saturday, 1-credit courses being offered by the SMCC Storytelling institute! Other classes coming up are:

Storytelling in Healing Settings: 09/19/2015- 10/03/2015
Storytelling in Educational Settings: 10/10/2015- 10/17/2015
Storytelling in Interpretive Settings: 10/31/2015- 11/07/2015
Storytelling in Business Settings: 11/14/2015- 11/21/2015

These courses are a great way to "pump-up" your knowledge and skills!
 
Click here for the schedule/descriptions and details.


Storyfind - New Monthly Event at SMCC

September 26th  from 1:00 – 4:00 in PAC 739.
Theme: “Finding and Crafting Tellable Stories from Old Sources.” 

Join the Storytelling Institute for a new monthly event: Storyfind, scheduled for the fourth Saturday of each month!

Storyfind is a monthly workshop designed to help storytellers build community and deepen repertoire. Each session will start with a short reception to welcome new participants to the community.  

Storyfind was created to capitalize on a unique partnership between the Storytelling Institute and the South Mountain Community Library. Phoenix Public Library donated a large collection of story anthologies, children’s books, and storytelling reference books from last century to the college. A selection of these books are now housed in PAC739 and 740 to be available for Storyfind participants and storytelling students.  

The first session will be led by Storytelling Institute Director Liz Warren, and Librarian Lydia Johnson.  

 

COMING ATTRACTION - Greek & Roman Myth Throw Down

Friday, October 9th - 6:30-8:30 pm

PREPARE YOURSELVES - PREPARE YOUR STORIES
Gods and Goddesses, Titans, love, infidelity, monster offspring, anger, wrath, revenge, and sometimes a bit of magic!

Be part of the fun! Join everyone at South Mountain Community College as twenty-six storytelling students from the many Community College storytelling classes in Maricopa County share their three-minute versions of Greek and Roman Myths. The audience will vote on the best stories.

Then, on Monday, October 12th, the top seven will tell their full versions for Myth Informed Classic Moves.

E-mail Liz Warren for more info
 
Check the calendar section for details

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This Week

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Tucson Tellers of Tales - Next Guild Meeting

Saturday, September 12th - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Columbus Branch Library on 22nd Street.

Normally held on the first Saturday, this special meeting of Tucson Tellers of Tales is schedulerd for the 12th to avoid the Labor Day weekend.

Greetings to all Tellers of Tales
Storytellers and story listeners in Tucson and Southern Arizona!
Welcome Back from Summer Break!
 
In the past few months, a special TOT committee (Jean Baxter, Debra Olsen-Tolar, Karla Campillo, Gloria Myers and Glenda Bonin) has been busy drafting a new set of bylaws to help our non-profit group grow and become an active and moving force in the community.

Glenda Bonin writes:

We are quite excited with the result, and it is time now to share it with you. But we cannot keep up the momentum without your help. If you want to be part of this exciting move forward for Tellers of Tales, be sure to attend the next meeting. Come ready to talk about the possibilities of providing:

  • Regular peer group sharing sessions;
  • Workshops for beginning and seasoned storytellers;
  • A schedule of community storytelling events;
  • Story retreats featuring professional storytellers
Note: At 11:00 a.m. when the business meeting is over, Glenda Bonin will lead a one-hour peer coaching workshop, so come with a 5-minute story you want to share with the group. We are inviting members of the public with an interest in learning about the art of storytelling to join us. Handouts about how we work with “Appreciations and Suggestions” will be provided to all who attend. (If you know of anyone interested in learning more about the art of storytelling, please invite them to join us at 11:00 a.m. for this first free workshop.)

 
Visit Their Facebook Page



East Valley Tellers of Tales

Saturday, September 12th ~ 10am - Noon
Join us to celebrate storytelling successes. 

East Valley Tellers of Tales is a Phoenix area guild of Storytellers and Storylisteners. A truly safe place to share your story! We are an affiliate of the National Storytelling Network. Come and find out what this means, and how it benefits you!
 
Click here for details & info

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Coming Up

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Arizona Storytellers - Adventures in the Outdoors
Monday - September 14th
Phoenix Theatre

Join azcentral.com, The Arizona Republic and Alliance Bank of Arizona at the home of our partners the SMCC Storytelling Institute - for a night of Adventures in the Outdoors
 
Featured Storytellers:
Republic journalist Dennis Wagner
Republic Explore Arizona reporter Bob Young
Republic photojournalist David Wallace
Sailing adventurer Eleanor Gobrecht
Community teller Margaret Smith
...and more
 
Registration begins at 6 p.m., 
Stories begin promptly at 7 p.m. 
 
Sign Language Interpretation Services Available!
If you require ASL Interpretation services for this event or a future Storytellers event you plan to attend, please contact Melissa Farley at Melissa.Farley@ArizonaRepublic.com with your request. 
 

For more details & Tickets

Writers Read
TUCSON - Thursday - September 24th - 6:30-8:00 PM
BREWD – A coffee lounge, 4960 N. Sabino Canyon Rd.
(Eastside Tucson) 

This Month's Theme - Oh, Yes I Can!

Writers Read is an entertaining forum for the public at local coffee shops. Ethel Lee Miller is the facilitator for this Tucson group.
 
This is not an open mic. Writers contact the organizer with their story idea and receive suggestions for reading aloud. Each writer has about 8 minutes to read. Timing is strictly adhered to with a designated timer.
 
Writers Read is a blend of performance and reading so it requires some animation and eye contact with the audience. Writers Read in Tucson is getting more and more submissions for the events, which is a happy consequence of success. Ethel has begun to really vet authors to get a variety of genres and different levels of presentation. This event walks a fine line between marketing and entertainment. Not all writers are great readers; Ethel provides suggestions for reading aloud (e me if you’d like a copy of the suggestion doc). 
 
Audience response has been very positive:
“Nice to have something like this in our community.”
“Never knew there were so many writers around here.”
“How can I be a reader?”
Arizona authors bring an eclectic mix of word play to the public. They bring something for everyone!
 
 
For info, contact Ethel Lee Miller: etheleemiller@me.com
 

Myth Informed
Tuesday - September 22 - SMCC Performance Hall
Join SMCC Institute students and faculty for this presentation of:

Myth Informed: Manly Myths

There are sure to be some classic tales and classically twisted tales from all of those whacky Greek and Roman manly men and their tumultuous escapades.

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm - SMCC Performance Hall
Admission is FREE


First and Last
Saturday - September 26th - 7-9:00 pm
How did you get started? How would you finish? Join us for an evening of storytelling for artists and those who love the performing arts, storytelling and the creative process.

We asked:
What was the very first story you ever told after you finally said to yourself “I am a storyteller!”
If you could never again tell a story, that is, you had only the opportunity to tell one last story, to send it out into the world, what would be your very last story?
We asked two performers with decades of experience to share their answers…and their stories…with you in an evening of intimate storytelling for adult audiences.
 
Discussion of the stories, the artists and the art follows the storytelling. Stick around and join the conversation. 
 
Our Tellers 2015:
 
Joyce Story
A storyteller for over 25 years, Joyce Story recently published two books of her original stories, both of which won Global Ebook Awards. The stories in her book, TALES OF THE SONORAN DESERT, reflect her admiration for the folktale and give voice to the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert, where she has made her home for over three decades.  Joyce shares these and other stories at the White Tank Mountain Regional Park and at other venues both in and out of the state of Arizona.   She is a retired educator with a doctorate in the field of Slavic languages and literatures.
 
Mark Compton
Mark Compton has been in the Phoenix storytelling scene presenting historical interpretation at the State Capitol Museum and training docents how to use storytelling to enhance the museum experience. Under Mark’s leadership West Side Story Tellers, the venerable storytelling club, has been revived and interesting new directions are being forged in collaboration with the local Phoenix folk music scene.
 
Click here for details & info
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It's Not Really a Dinosaur

Although to some younger folk, it sounds like a dinosaur...it's really not. It is actually one of the best tools a writer (and storyteller) has.

What do you do when you are searching for that "perfect" word or phrase? Where do you go? Do you spend hours wracking your brain, gnashing your teeth, and going through various machinations to try and come up with the definitive descriptor for your thoughts?

It could be (should be) right at your fingertips...or your mouse!

The thesaurus is one of the best tools we have for exploring the possibilities for our stories. It can help you find just the right word, or it can lead you in a totally new direction that may result in a far better story.

From Wikipedia:

In antiquity, Philo of Byblos authored the first text that could now be called a thesaurus. In Sanskrit, the Amarakosha is a thesaurus in verse form, written in the 4th century.
 
The first modern thesaurus was Roget's Thesaurus, first compiled in 1805 by Peter Mark Roget, and published in 1852. Since its publication it has never been out of print and is still a widely used work across the English-speaking world.[4] Entries in Roget's Thesaurus are listed conceptually rather than alphabetically. Roget described his thesaurus in the foreword to the first edition:

It is now nearly fifty years since I first projected a system of verbal classification similar to that on which the present work is founded. Conceiving that such a compilation might help to supply my own deficiencies, I had, in the year 1805, completed a classed catalogue of words on a small scale, but on the same principle, and nearly in the same form, as the Thesaurus now published.

Pick up a copy at your local bookstore, or bookmark some online versions:
http://www.thesaurus.com
http://www.thesaurus.com/Roget-Alpha-Index.html

So when you need that perfect word, don't gasp, inhale, pant, puff or respire, just consult your thesaurus!

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Happy Birthday Michael D.!

Today is Michael D. McCarty's birthday. One of the first "experts" I videotaped and put on my website, Michael is a multicultural storyteller of African, African-American and International Folk tales, Historical tales, Stories of Science, Spiritual stories, as well as stories of the brilliant and absolutely stupid things he has done in his life. 

You know when Michael is around! His laughter is infectious, and he is one of the most positive and encouraging storytellers I know. He is a one-man audience!

Here is a short video I took of Michael at the Timpanogos Storytelling Conference in August of 2012. His advice is so solid, it has become my "rule #1" about storytelling!

Happy Birthday Michael D. - and many, many more!

Check out Michael's website: http://www.HaveMouthWillRunit.com

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Ongoing
Events

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------------------------------------THERE'S A LOT GOING ON EACH MONTH
-------------------CHECK EACH WEBSITE OR CALENDAR TO CONFIRM DATES AND TIMES
---------------------------------CALL TO MAKE SURE THE EVENT IS STILL ON


Infuse Open Mic
Second Sunday of each month - Phoenix
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Infuse-Open-Mic/137811162925031


Pink Slip Open Mic
Every Monday at  8 pm - PHOENIX
https://www.facebook.com/events/488551851312946/


Yarnball Storytellers Mic
Every Wednesday at  8 pm - PHOENIX
https://www.facebook.com/lawngnomepublishing/events


FStorytellers - Female Story Tellers - Tucson
Usually sometime during the first week of the month - but check their website) at  7 pm - TUCSON
http://www.fstorytellers.com/index.html


Odyssey Storytelling
First Thursday of each month (usually but check calendar) - TUCSON
http://www.storyartsgroup.org/odyssey/Odyssey/Welcome.html


Storyline
Third Friday (usually) of each month - PHOENIX
http://thestoryline.org/


Tucson Tellers of Tales - Storytellers Guild
First Saturday of each month (except July and August) - Tucson
https://www.facebook.com/TucsonTellersofTales


West Side Story Tellers - Storytellers Guild
First Saturday of each month - GLENDALE *NO meetings in July & August
http://westsidestorytellers.weebly.com

East Valley Tellers of Tales -Storytellers Guild
Second Saturday of each month - SCOTTSDALE
http://www.evtot.com


Storyfind
Fourth Saturday of each month - SMCC Storytelling Institute
A monthly workshop designed to help storytellers build community and deepen repertoire.
See the Calendar


Homebase Poetry
Has changed to a random schedule  - Phoenix
Make sure you check the Faceboook page
https://www.facebook.com/Homebasepoetryopenmic


 
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All Newsletter content ©Mark Goldman
Got some news or information you would like to get out to the storytelling community?

Contact Mark Goldman -x602-390-3858x - Mark@Storytellermark.com

 
     

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