RAW Garden Storytelling Sunday 1st July

Its the middle of winter and the garden is looking bare. Rug up: hats, gloves and a warm coat. The stories continue whatever the weather.

Daniela Bücheler-Scott (photo: www.anthonycheung.photography)

This month Daniela Bücheler-Scott is holding the story space for us. Dani is the recipient of the Storytelling Australia Victoria scholarship to the NSW International Storytelling Conference. She will be full of news to share about this biennial gathering.

Dani has a particular passion for storytelling for children and especially kamishibai storytelling. On her return from NSW she launched into the Williamstown Literary Festival as a participant in a display, a workshop and all-ages friendly group show.

The kamishibai storytellers are growing their numbers and Dani is a co-administrator of the newly launched AKA (Australian Kamishibai Association) Page.

RAW Garden Storytelling is a partnership event with Mariam Issa and the RAW Garden. The Garden celebrates the uniqueness and aspirations of multi cultural women.

We have a mix of special guests, story games and there is always a space for friends to tell a tale. Make sure you let the Dani  know if you are carrying a story that wants to be shared.

THEMES: Sometimes we have themes but we are not strict about this and will let know if we have something in particular we would like to explore.

We value listeners and storytellers equally and take pride in welcoming newcomers to RAW.

COST: FREE
Bookings are not necessary.
Enter by the drive way gate.

WHERE: 325 South Road Brighton East
TIME: 12.00 - 3.00

Nibbles provided 

Stories by the Fire: 30th June

For more years than we can count on one hand, Storytelling Australia Victoria has been hosting this evening of Stories by the Fire as part of the Newport Folk Festival. 

This year our MC is Matt McArthur. Matt is a versatile storyteller but is particularly known for his science stories (Laborastory); he is also a Moth storyteller, a regular at Fabled Nights and contributor to World Storytelling Day, urn boiler, cup washer ... you name it!

Matt has been spending a considerable amount of time in the Antarctic and clearly enjoys the fashions! You can subscribe to his podcast Iced Coffee and enjoy stories of the history and human activity in Antarctica.

Stories by the Fire is a casual open event; we set up a chalk board and invite storytellers to put their names up and share a tale of around 10 minutes or less. We will have a bell! We welcome all genres, ask that you tell not read , and we request that kind hearts prevail. Racist and homophobic stories hurt people.

Storytelling Australia Victoria takes pride in welcoming new comers to the hearth.

So mark it in your diary, and while you're at it, keep an eye on the festival program. The Newport Folk Festival is a grass roots celebration fueled by the passion of the local folkies.

This is an inter-generational event but not suitable for the very young 12+.

Soup, cake and chai are served by the Storytelling Australia Victoria team on the night.

WHEN: June 30
WHERE: Newport Scout Hall Market Street opposite The Substation
TIME: 6.00 pm
BOOKINGS: HERE

Return of the Sentimental Bloke: 1st July

C.J. Dennis' character 'The Sentimental Bloke' has delighted audiences for over 100 years. Dave and Alan Davies bring all the humour and drama of 'the Bloke' to life with four poems, recited in character. The poems are linked with narration that gives the background of the poems, and music from the period. With Nicola Johnson on fiddle.


Dave is a member of Storytelling Victoria and regular at Fabled Nights in Newport. He brings Australian Bush verse to the evenings as well as tall stories, Shakespeare, and occasionally something from the Russian classics.

As part of the Newport Folk Festival.
WHEN: Sunday July 1
WHERE: Newport Scout Hall (Market Street Newport opposite the Substation)
TIME: 2.00 pm
TICKETS: Try Booking

AKA (Australian Kamishibai Association)

Kamishibai (paper theater) is a Japanese way of telling stories. Once popular in the 1930s - 1940s, it was swept aside with the introduction of television.

But kamishibai is back and new stories are being published and there are festivals and gatherings of kamishibai storytellers popping up around the world.

Bernard Caleo

Bernard Caleo (comic book maker, actor, storyteller) and me (Jackie Kerin,  Storytelling Australia Victoria) formed a Facebook Group a few years ago, and calling it the AKA (Australian Kamishiba Association), we hoped to gather kamishibai enthusiasts from around Australia to share ideas and grow skills.

Daniela with her kamishibai stage and stories

We now have members from Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia as well as a few overseas guests.

Tetsuta Watanabe's 1940s Japanese tale of 'Mr Carrot' was a favourite

With growing confidence, we decided to go public and so pitched ourselves to the Williamstown Literary Festival 2018 offering: a display, two shows, introductory session and workshop for children.

Anna telling a story to an enchanted crowd

The plan was hatched when Anna Manuel said, 'Let's do it!' Anna shouldered a huge amount of the planning and arrangements with the festival organisers: curated the showcase of Kamishibai Stories for Kids and facilitated the workshop. Together with her partner Anthony, she also designed our flyers and banner.

L-R: Alex Kharnam, Daniela Bücheler-Scott, Jackie Kerin, Matt McArthur,Tetsuta Watanabe, Anna Manuel

And I would like to express gratitude, on behalf of the team, to those members of Storytelling Victoria who so kindly gave up their time and helped us with the display table. We were overwhelmed by your willingness to down tools and lend us hand.

And please, if you would like to be part of the fun, don't hesitate to join our group and follow our Page.

Find us on our AKA PAGE HERE

Fabled Nights in Newport and Stories by the Fire

Fabled Nights is back and this month our host is Cameron Sharp.

Cam is a valued member of Storytelling Australia Victoria, famous for bringing tears to our eyes with heartfelt personal tales that have taken us to the Oodnadatta Track, New York and back stage of musical theatre where he revealed to us the secrets of the quick change!

At Fabled Nights we encourage folks to have a go, not only telling a story but with hosting, kitchen duties, setting up and packing down. The night belongs to all of us, its a safe place to learn new skills and confidence in running story gatherings.

If you have a gig on the horizon and you want to test out your story, come along!

We enjoy true, fictional, traditional and rhyming verse.

We ask that stories be 8 - 10 minutes. We have two longer spots on offer if you would like more time.
Please don't read, unless you are working on an oral piece.

Let kind hearts and common sense prevail: homophobic and misogynistic stories hurt people. And we ask that if you tell someone else's personal story, you assure us, you have their permission. You can read out values statement HERE.

WHEN: June 15

WHERE: Newport HUB. 13 Mason Street Newport. *all access venue
Enter from the park side of the building. Car parking at the rear of the building.

TIME: 7.30 - 10.00 pm

COST: $3.00 for Storytelling Australia Victoria and Newport Fiddle and Folk Club members or $5.00

The urn will be boiling and cake and nibbles ready for half time.

Why not come to Fabled Nights and practice a story for Stories by the Fire.

 Stories by the Fire 
our annual event at the Newport Folk Festival

This is an open floor for storytellers at the Newport Folk Festival.
Stories 8 - 10 minutes (we will ring a bell).

Soup, cake, chai. Every year, without fail, No Worries Curries donates delicious chai.

WHEN: June 30

WHERE: Newport Scout Hall. Market Street Newport. The old wooden hall comes alive with an open fire and candles.

TIME: 6.00 - 8.30

COST: Information HERE

Federation of Asian Storytellers

Congratulations to all who have been working so hard for several years to create a body that will connect storytellers across Asia.

 

The first FEAST conference will take place in November in Singapore and will be followed by a festival of story sharing.

The announcement of FEAST's incorporation is hot of the press and there is still much to be done, so keep and eye out and when we hear news, we'll share via this blog.

FEAST has been inspired by FEST, The Federation for European Storytelling.  

There are festivals sprouting up just to the north of us and the membership of Australian storytelling organisations is increasingly being enriched by storytellers steeped in Asian oral traditions.

Just recently we have enjoyed connecting with  Udaipur Tales in Rajasthan. Storytelling Victoria's Devi Palanisamy is planning a skype with Rananjay to learn more.

In Singapore, Kamini Ramachandran has just completed her second StoryFest International Storytelling Festival. Located between Australia and Europe, Kamini brings tellers together from  around the world. Cheaper to fly to Singapore from Melbourne than to Western Australia, its an exciting chance to catch some of the best.

And if you can't make it to the StoryFest, there is the 398.2 Storytelling Festival.

There are also storytelling festivals in Korea and Vietnam and many other counties besides.

So thank you to the team who is creating FEAST. Now it will be easier for us here in Australia to  track events.

We look forward to sharing the website when its live and exploring ways to collaborate and connect across Asia through story and best of all, storytellers across Australia will find it easier to independently build relationships and create networks for their work and enrichment.

NSW International Storytelling Conference 2018

The NSW International Storytelling Conference has won a place in the hearts of storytellers around the country and overseas.

Held every second year, the space between creates a sense of anticipation. Quite often the overseas delegates return and the excitement that accompanies their arrival is palpable. Relationships are commonly maintained, if not nurtured, through social media, and when at last, virtual soul mates connect, the joy is infectious.

This year storytellers from the USA and Korea were made welcome and from closer to home: Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, the ACT, NSW and Queensland.

Young and old mixed  in the fun. Some of the elders were over 80, knowledgeable and still telling stories; some on stilts and some on sticks!

This year Lyn Ford gave the keynote as well as sharing superbly crafted tales from her heritage. Other American delegates included the energetic Donna Washington and the remarkable thinker and wordsmith David Novak. DAvid 

David stayed on in Sydney an delivered his one man story: Gilgamesh.

We were blessed to enjoy the stories and good company and beautiful costumes of Seung Ah Kim.

Storytelling Australia Victoria was there in force, telling stories, delivering workshops, mcing, holding story circles and generally pitching in to help the organisers.

Anna Manuel, Susan Hall, Gael Cresp, Lee Foyster, Jackie Kerin, Dani Bucheler-Scott, Devi Palanisamy

 A heart felt thank you from all of us at Storytelling Australia Victoria to Christine Carlton and the NSW Conference committee.