Learn from our Featured Tellers in 2025. Check out the Schedule of Events for date and time.
Carol Birch
It’s in the Details
Listeners often ask: “How do you remember all that?” Vivid details in concert with personal perspectives shape our stories while animating events, setting, and character. This workshop opens doors into all that. Step through the doors onto innumerable paths that emerge from responses to “Where I’m From” prompts, which poet George Ella Lyon created. Our responses lead right into a story – though the process is too rich and too much fun to stop with just one! This workshop is for everyone, even folks who don’t know how much and how precious what they know is.
It’s How We Say It!
As music lives when played, stories resonate differently when shared out loud. We acknowledge the power of aural cues, when we say, “It’s not what s/he said, it’s how s/he said it!” Yet all too often tellers offer stories without bringing the words, and the worlds, of a story to life. Art is process, not product. This workshop invites us to explore the suppleness of the process from subtlety to boldness – in short, life force or chi – in what we tell.
“Every sentence should be tested on the tongue, to make sure that the sound of it has the hardness or softness, the swiftness or languor, which the meaning of it calls for.” ~ C. S. Lewis
The workshop is based on Birch’s award-winning book THE WHOLE STORY: USING THE IMAGINATION TO BUILD STORIES. It will be available for purchase.
Johnny Thomas Fowler
Unearthing the Legend: The Art of Crafting Historical Narratives
Dive deep into the heart of storytelling with Johnny Thomas Fowler, as he brings to life the fascinating journey of South Carolina folk hero, George Washington Mullins, better known as Trotting Sally. In this immersive 90-minute workshop, Johnny invites you to explore the meticulous and passionate process behind crafting a historically accurate and engaging narrative.
Johnny spent over 25 years unraveling the rich tapestry of Trotting Sally’s life, meticulously piecing together a story from a treasure trove of sources—newspaper clippings, family genealogies, local histories, slave schedules, census data, city directories, deeds, birth and death certificates, and countless hours of field research and personal interviews. Each element of this research brings new light to a story nearly lost to time.
This workshop is a must-attend for anyone passionate about storytelling, particularly those interested in developing stories rooted in local history or family heritage. Johnny will share his own journey, revealing the strategies and tools that helped him uncover and document Mullins’ life. You’ll also hear a series of short stories, illustrating how to weave historical facts into compelling narratives that resonate with modern audiences.
Whether you’re an experienced storyteller or just beginning your journey, this workshop offers invaluable insights into the delicate balance of fact and narrative. If you’re serious about developing historically accurate stories that captivate and inform, join Johnny for an engaging, educational, and inspiring experience. Don’t miss this chance to enhance your storytelling craft and connect with the past in a profound way!
The Art of Storytelling: From Memory to Imagination
In this engaging workshop, storyteller Johnny Thomas Fowler guides participants through the dynamic process of storytelling, exploring how memory and imagination shape the stories we tell. After a brief introduction, the session kicks off with a story retelling exercise. Participants will read short stories and then retell them to others from memory, leading to a discussion on how details are remembered, omitted, or altered.
The workshop delves into learning styles—auditory, visual, kinesthetic—and how they impact storytelling. Through exercises, participants will explore how stories evolve with each telling and how memory plays a role in shaping narratives. A second activity challenges listeners to retell a complex story, further illustrating how storytelling is a creative and ever-changing process.
The workshop wraps up with a group reflection, encouraging participants to embrace the imperfections in retelling and continue honing their storytelling craft.
Paul Strickland
More Than Words: Performance Techniques in Storytelling
Most everyone can “talk with their hands.” But physicality and movement in storytelling can be an incredibly effective tool if done with intentionality and a little practice. In this workshop we’ll examine how to determine what parts of your story benefit from a more intentional approach to movement/physicality, and how to apply those concepts to YOUR BODY RIGHT NOW. It’s your story. Tell it with YOUR BODY.
We’ve all heard the old saying, “Show, don’t tell.” In this workshop you’ll learn how to show better WHEN you tell. Supporting the story you’re telling with a seasoning of the performance techniques you’ll learn in this workshop will elevate your listeners’ experience while deepening your connection to the story itself.
The Creative Craft of Humor: A Storytelling Workshop
Many people think comedy is a gift, but it’s actually a craft. Learn the nuts and bolts of how to MAKE stories funnier, but, even more importantly, how to use comedic techniques as more than simply a way to entertain. Jokes and other comedic structures are a valuable tool to widen and deepen the potential paths of communication between you and your listeners. In this workshop we will cover joke construction, comedic imagery, performance techniques and other fundamentals of humorous writing and performance.
Tamara Green
Writing Tools for Story Writers
Every story has a birthday. Learn how to trigger a story idea. Amazing ideas for a story can be born from a situation or a character who was or is either a part of your life or outside of your personal space. Learn how to draw upon events, places, and vivid imagery created by words. Come and collect tools that will help you to express and polish your story like a shiny new nickel.
It would be convenient if those in the workshop could sit at a table for this. I will provide pencils and spiral notebooks for this workshop. I’ll probably use the large super sticky large chart paper for this writing workshop. This is what I have at this time. Let me know if you have any concerns or suggestions.
Linda Chancey Guice
Beginner’s Storytelling Workshop: How do I get started?
This workshop will give the new storyteller the tools to find and learn a good tellable tale. You will gain confidence in finding your own voice and explore all the different types of stories to choose from. The group will learn the parts of a story and the importance of the beginning and end of a story. We will explore techniques for learning a story and talk about where you can find places to tell your stories. Each person will leave with a good bibliography of titles and inspiration for their new story journey.