Friday, May 30, 2014

Newport Folk Festival: Stories by the Fire. 5 July 2014

You're invited 

Stories by the Fire at the Newport Folk Festival


This is a time in the Festival when storytellers and listeners gather to join around a crackling fire with Melbourne’s favourite storytellers. There’ll be candles to light the room and spicy chai to warm the heart and loosen the tongue. Bring stories to share and ears to listen.

 Kate Lawrence (Story Wise) and Teena Hartnett will be there to welcome you and curate the evening. 




WHERE: Newport Scout Hall
6 Market St Newport (Disability access)
WHEN:  Saturday 5 july 
TIME: 6:00 pm - 08:00 pm 

ENTRY: Wristband (available at door)

Learn more about Kate Lawrence HERE
Learn more about Teena Hartnett HERE

All welcome but remember this is a storytelling evening for adults.  


Full program and how to get to the NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL

Check out the fun we had last year!



Saturday, May 17, 2014

JB Rowley: stories, songs, rhymes and activities (early childhood) 2014


In response to requests from people who have attended my storytelling sessions in libraries, I decided to provide themed storytelling programs for young children through a blog called: Oral Storytelling: storytelling solutions for those who work with young children. The blog is still in the early stages as I find it hard to get the time to add regular posts. However, the idea is to gradually add posts until the blog becomes an extensive resource with a wide variety of themes.

At this stage there are eleven themed programs. Each program consists of a simple story ready for telling as well as a rhyme, a song and an activity linked to the program’s theme. For example, the latest post is Teddy Bears; a program consisting of a story about four bears who go on a picnic and discover the importance of a bear hug. The additional elements are the words to the rhyme Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear; Turn Around, a link to the song Teddy Bears’ Picnic, and a link to a simple craft activity on how to make Tiny Teddy, one of the characters from the story. 

It is a simple blog as I do not have advanced skills as a blogger, but I believe it is easy to navigate with a list of the programs on the right hand side and a search function.

Oral Storytelling: storytelling solutions for those who work with young children: HERE

JB Rowley 

Friday, May 16, 2014

Gael Cresp: Stories for Grownups: Wonthaggi June, July August 2014


Gael Cresp loves to tell stories to adults. You are invited to come and listen to a selection of modern, ancient, tragic, funny, strange, historically accurate stories, that existed in spoken word long before they were written down. This special series of oral storytelling will be held at lunchtimes once a month during the winter months.

Where: Wonthaggi Library 
When: Fridays 13 June, 11 July, 8 August
Time: 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM
FREE



Location and bookings (essential): HERE
or call 5622 2849

Gael lives in the beautiful coastal town of Kilcunda in the traditional country of the Bunurong. She is one of the early members of Storytelling Australia (Vic) and over the years has been tireless in her support of the group taking on the roles of president, treasurer and secretary. She has guided us through the muddy waters of a name change and incorporation - those things that befuddle most storytelling mortals! Gael's knowledge of traditional storytelling runs deep; her curiosity and thirst for her subject has taken her to conferences around Australia, strengthening relationships. She is a Victorian treasure!

Gael’s website: HERE

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

CONFERENCE: THE ISLAND WAY: STORYTELLERS OF CANADA July 2 - 6 2014


Every time Storytelling Vic tellers open their mouths, they seem to make new friends. In the process of celebrating World Storytelling Day we strengthened our relationship with the storytellers in the Netherlands. The Dutch are great friends of the Canadians and that's how come we are enjoying collaborating with Karen Gummo!

Karen has recently made us aware of a storytelling conference on Prince Edward Island. Yes its a long way! I would love to work on a plan to subsidise Vic Tellers to represent us at some of these international gatherings. Thinking caps on please!

And thank you Karen for letting us know.


Details for THE ISLAND WAY: HERE

Jackie Kerin

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Drawn from the Ground. Sand Stories from Central Australia 2014


Drawn from the Ground
Sound, Sign and Inscription in Central Australian Sand Stories
By Jennifer Green

This book is hot off the press; a unique and impressive contribution to the literature about Australian Aboriginal storytelling.

Sand stories from Central Australia are a traditional form of Aboriginal women's verbal art that incorporates speech, song, sign, gesture and drawing. Small leaves and other objects may be used to represent story characters.

Although this is an academic work, it is accessible and will be of great interest to many of you who are curious to learn more about Aboriginal storytelling. But more than that, this study of Arandic sand stories takes a multimodal approach to the analysis of the stories and shows how the expressive elements used in the stories are orchestrated together.

The author, Jennifer Green is a Research Fellow in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. She has over 30 years' experience working on projects documenting indigenous languages, history and visual arts.

Drawn from the Ground is published by Cambridge University Press

Thursday, May 8, 2014

The Laborastory: Stories of Science 2014


Teena Hartnett’s eye was caught by an event in Melbourne called ‘The Laborastory’. Passionate and intrepid story lovers that we are, we ventured forth on a cold, wet Melbourne evening to the Cider Bar in Brunswick Street to investigate.

The night we attended was particularly exciting as The Laborastory was celebrating its first year of success. The brainchild of Dr Andrea Bedini and Natalie Collard, the concept sits at the point ‘…where science meets storytelling’. The stories may be serious or funny; they are brief, and interesting (with a capital ‘I’).

Five storytellers (and if they are not scientists, they are deeply connected to the discipline) step up to the mic and let rip on their subject. The night we went, the theme was ‘Heroes’. We learned about the surgeon in the 1750’s who discovered that what we eat ends up in our bones; Thomas Midgley the inventor of leaded petrol and CFCs (thanks Tom); Gertrude Elion (Nobel Prize winner), the chemist whose work transformed the way Leukemia is treated and whose lab developed AZT; there was a musing on the difference between managers and leaders, and finally Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler or Hedy Lamarr, film siren and co inventor of a technique to spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping which paved the way for today’s Wi-Fi.

The storytellers read, rather than said their stories and in that way, they differ from the telling as practiced by Storytelling Vic tellers.  With that caveat, The Laborastory was a very enjoyable evening and one, the two of us can recommend.

They are keen to hear from people who have a scientific tale to tell.

Jackie K and on behalf of Teen Hartnett
Learn more about The Laborastory HERE

Saturday, May 3, 2014

History Tales: celebrating the past with story and song. May 2014


The Old Laverton School in Altona Meadows is one of the last remaining single-room schools in Victoria. Built in 1888 its now embedded in Melbourne’s suburban west. Beautifully restored and now used by community groups for yoga, theatre rehearsals, and all sorts of wonderful things … The old school celebrated 125 years with scones, silent films, sack races and of course storytelling. I was was there with colleague Alan Davies to share stories from the past and encourage the exchange of memories. Using the idea of an ‘Assembly’ to frame our program, Alan led the singing while I focused on the stories.
As my Queensland storytelling friend, Bettina Nissan says, ‘Stories beget stories’. And so it was. No sooner had the Assembly finished; the stories flowed.

Alan and I both live in the west and met through the local Newport Folk Club. From my experience, connecting and working with my community and council has proved rewarding in so many ways. I feel part of something very special and humbled by the support Hobsons Bay Council and the Club has given me to develop my practice as a professional story teller working in the oral tradition.

Alan Davies is a Marriage Celebrant and director of the Newport Community Choir
Jackie Kerin Storytelling Vic teller and author.