Caren S. Neile, who has taught storytelling classes for over two decades at Florida Atlantic University, presented two successful programs in April that were made possible by grants from the Florida Storytelling Association.
On April 2, Neile held a workshop for students: “The Storytelling Superpower: Why and How Telling Tales Can Jumpstart Your Career–And Your Life!”
On April 17, she presented “West Bank Story: A Performance for Peace,” a moving and non-political account of how she conducted a series of story workshops in West Bank in 2022-2023 that attempted to bring Israelis and Palestinians together. (See the flyers below)
In recounting the events she notes:
I cannot over-express my gratitude to FSA for underwriting the following two events. While I had presented for the first host organization before, I had not had an opportunity to do so for the second. This grant not only enabled me to educate and entertain about 100 people, but it also set the stage for my doing subsequent storytelling work for one of the hosts.”
I presented “The Storytelling Superpower” under the auspices of Florida Atlantic University’s Harriet L. Wilkes Honor’s College in Jupiter, with support from Dr. Rachel Luria, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs. The event was a workshop for undergraduates, and about two dozen attended.
When the students arrived, I welcomed them, offered refreshments supplied by the school, and gave them each a copy of my recent Toastmaster magazine article on storytelling. Then, I spoke about how storytelling can bring success in job interviews, sales, business, peace-building, health care, even getting a date. That is to say, it’s a true superpower.
I next explained what storytelling is, and what a story is. I gave some tips for each. Finally, nine students volunteered to participate in a storytelling slam. The candor and skill of some of the students was amazing. I did not provide a topic, because I wanted them to be as authentic as possible in telling the stories they felt they needed to share.
We heard some deeply personal narratives on subjects like dating and coming out, as well as stories on travel and work. The campus host and I were truly gratified by how open the students were to be participating in the event. (It helped that they received extra credit.)
The story that received a prize from the judge (me) was the coming-out story. It was not only well-crafted, but also emotional and highly descriptive. I felt so grateful to be a part of that event.
Her” West Bank Story” was hosted by FAU’s Peace, Justice and Human Rights and was held on the university’s Boca Raton campus.
I had crafted for the host, Dr. Angela Nichols, who leads the group, an introduction explaining that I realize it is difficult to talk about such things, but I asked that they listen with their hearts, and that they would have an opportunity to speak after the performance at an audience talkback. There were 75 community members and students in attendance. We had one police officer stationed nearby in case of disruption, but we never needed to call him.
I opened with a short video of my experience working with a Palestinian/Israeli non-governmental peace organization in the West Bank of Israel/Palestine.
Then I told the story of my experience, which centered around the importance of listening to the stories of the Other. It took about 45-50 minutes to perform. I am happy to report that you could not hear the proverbial pin drop during that time. We finished with the 15-minute audience talkback.
I have performed the show about six times at other venues, and this was the first instance when not a soul, including at least one Palestinian in the audience, had a complaint or concern of any kind. The positive feedback was extremely gratifying.
Thank you for sharing info about a well-deserved grant and the success of the program.
I was lucky to see her “West Bank Story”… absolutely brilliant and essential. A beacon of hope and possibility. As my Grandfather always said, “hard to hate someone whose story you know.” Thank you, Caren and thank you FSA for supporting her work!