Storytelling

Some interesting articles about storytelling at Steve Denning's website. The site is meant for businesses and organizations but some elements of storytelling are the same no matter who they are meant for. The articles I find particularly interesting are the ones on How storytelling communicates complex ideas. My Bookman and I still haven't decided if we are going to Hay/Wales or Scotland next spring. We are leaning toward Hay. In our researches though I found Capture Wales. It is a digital storytelling site with mini movies created and edited by average people who have a story they want to tell. The project is sponsored by BBC Wales. They are "working with digital storyteller Daniel Meadows from the Centre for Journalism Studies at Cardiff University. We run monthly workshops around Wales, working with members of the public to help them create their own digital stories." Some are better than others, but all have been wonderful so far. Of particular note is the one in the Passion category by Linda John (middle column, 7th down and it has a head of a robin next to it). A Sad but beautiful story that brought tears to my eyes. (Note: you will need mediaplayer to see the video, otherwise you just get the sound) We've also learned that storytelling is a big tradition in Wales. The Eisteddfod has several incarnations, the longest running one appears to be The National Eisteddfod of Wales which claims that it "can be traced back to 1176 when it is said that the first Eisteddfod was held, under the auspices of Lord Rhys, at his castle in Cardigan. There he held a grand gathering to which were invited poets and musicians from all over the country. A chair at the Lord's table was awarded to the best poet and musician, a tradition that prevails in the modern day National Eisteddfod." Of course it is always held in August and wherever we decide to go we'll be there in April. The States has a storytelling festival too I find. It is held annually at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough Tennessee. And if you want to tell your own story or preserve family stories, hop over to the Center for Life Stories Preservation while you still can. They closed their doors at the end of December 2004 due to lack of funding, but still have their free content up as well as discounted books and other items for sale while they last.