Visiting Storytellers: Christine Willison, Martin Jefferd, Naomi Steinberg and Taffy Thomas Summer 2015

The wonderful thing about visitors is the way they act as a catalyst and bring us together.

It’s common to have storytellers from overseas arrive on our shores over the summer break but as many of us are away, it’s not always possible to make them welcome and share stories. This year has been and exception.

Workshop and Story Share: Christine Willison and Martin Jefferd

With some quick planning, we succeeded in gathering at the Art Gallery of Ballarat where storyteller Christine Willison (based in Wales)  offered a workshop: Myth and Reality (focusing on the Welsh Tales of the Mabinogion). Participants came from near and far, several gathering at Southern Cross Station and making use of the regional train service (very relaxing!).

Following the workshop was a Story Share, where tellers identified artworks in the gallery and found an image to spark a tale. 

Christine is the current chair of The Society for Storytelling 

Martin is based in Bristol where the Bristol Storyfest is in planning 

Thanks to Ronda Gault, Anne E Stewart and Sheilagh Kentish and Art Gallery of Ballart for making it happen.

Pics: Christine Willison and Martin Jefferd and the train travellers enjoying a glass of before heading back to the city.

House Concert: Naomi Steinberg

By their nature, these are more private affairs as they take place in people’s homes. In a spontaneous moment, Jackie Kerin decided to offer Naomi Steinberg from Canada the use of her sunroom. Naomi arrived in Melbourne by cargo ship after spending 21 days crossing the Pacific. She is travelling the world with stories. You can follow her adventures HERE 

Thanks to Teena Hartnett and Jan “Yarn” Wositzky for helping on the night.

Coming soon

Workshops and Performances: Taffy Thomas

Taffy will be arriving soon and is offering workshops and concerts between February 21 and March 23.Taffy is the patron of the UK Society for Storytelling and the First Storyteller Laureate. 

Here's a glimpse of Taffy in action.

You can catch Taffy at the Castlemaine State Festival

Taffy Thomas: CreateAbility: Cultural Exchange

Taffy Thomas, Britain’s first Storytelling Laureate and friend of Storytelling Australia Victoria, will be appearing as himself at three performances. These shows are part of the FREE program listed under ‘Carnival of Community’ on the festival website

CreateAbility: Cultural Exchange

14^th  Sat: 12.30 pm

15^th  Sunday: 11.00 am

21^st  Saturday: 12.30 pm

Where:Victory Park,

Mostyn Street

Castlemaine

He will also be in the Food Garden on Sat 14 and 21 as part of the Fringe. Times tbc

Find the Free Events at the Caslemaine State Festival HERE

Taffy Thomas website:  HERE

Exploring the therapeutic value of stories: Kim Billington, Narrative Therapist 2015

You can entertain, heal and inform with story. Kim Billington's work and research is around the potential of stories for inner renewal and healing.

Kim joined The Storytelling Guild (Vic) in 1992. At the time she was doing a BEd Thesis on Storytelling in the Curriculum. During the 90s, the storytellers gathered for regular conferences, and it was at a weekend away in Lorne where Kim first enjoyed hearing people tell stories to adults.  An experience that was transformative.

Last year Kim rejoined the storytelling community that is now known as Storytelling Australia Victoria, "I wanted to reconnect with storytellers."

Kim’s professional journey began in education as a State and Steiner-trained teacher, "I told stories mainly in the classroom, as a Steiner teacher; stories are a big part of the method of bringing information to the children, engaging their interest and bringing wonder and joy. Later I completed a Grad Cert in Narrative Therapy at Bouverie in Melbourne, and now I’m completing a Masters of Narrative at Melbourne Uni."

What is Narrative Therapy?

"In a nutshell, Narrative Therapy is a practice developed in the 70s and 80s by Michael White and David Epston (social workers and family therapists). It’s about acknowledging the ‘problem story’ by hearing and then listening for ‘alternative story-threads’ about the person’s values and hopes that ‘the problem’ has not been able to destroy. It’s about getting curious about ‘the absent, but implied’ stories of courage or determination. It’s being with the person as they get to ‘re-author’ their story."

Influences

"In the 80s, I read Bruno Bettelheim’s ‘Uses of Enchantment’ and later, I read a book called ‘The Heroic Client’ as part of a Masters of Counselling course, and the title got me thinking. So, I began to bring my love of story into counselling and talk about the heroic journey with clients, and slowly I started researching it. I admire the recent work of Native American Indian psychiatrist Lewis Mel-Medrona and Marie-Louise von Franz’s Jungian studies from the 1930s. Rob Parkinson’s book, ‘Transforming Tales’ gave me lots of confidence. I also must acknowledge Joseph Campbell's work 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces'."

What makes a good listener?

"When a storytelling therapist has made a connection to a story, their own imagination brings that story to life. In the shared, sacred space, the listener is drawn-to, and tunes-into the resurrected life of the story, regardless of content. 

In ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ Lewis Carroll said the listener receives the story as a ‘love gift’."

You use folk and fairy tales. Are there inherent dangers in using old stories?

"Fairy tales have an ‘ordinary’ hero, often not named. The stories are mostly optimistic - promoting hope and promising a happy solution for the hero who has struggled. As the listener identifies with the hero, they can experience an ‘inner renewal’. Fairy tale heroes have inner and outer conflicts that are very human, pointing to human nature and identity development through symbol and metaphor. 

Myths on the other hand, have unique, named central characters who are more super-heroes, almost god-like, and there are many tragic endings. Listeners always feel slightly inferior to mythic heroes.

Some fairy tales are well suited to older people; the work of Allan Chinen would be useful for people who particularly want to address the developmental needs of middle and older-aged clients.

* Kim is looking for listeners to help with her research

Kim is currently working on researching the therapeutic value of stories – Master of Narrative Therapy at Melbourne University. She is keen to meet people who are willing to listen to a ten-minute story, and a month later be sent ten questions about the ‘story-echo and reverberations’ around how the story might have changed one’s response to problems or stimulated identity reflection and renewal.  If you would like to be part this research please contact Kim. She is happy to work over Skype or phone.

Contact Kim: counsellingconversations@gmail.com

Link to Narrative Therapy

Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky’s CANAKKALE. GALLIPOLI. LEST WE FORGET 25 January 2015

Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky’s

CANAKKALE. GALLIPOLI. LEST WE FORGET

Two Cultures. One story. Gallipoli.

Canakkale is what Turkish people call the 1915 war at Gallipoli, and Canakkale. Gallipoli. Lest We Forget is unique music and story theatre that tells the tragic story using both Turkish and Australian song and poetry - Nazim Hikmet , Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Ted Egan and Eric Bogle amongst others.

            Created and performed by master storyteller and founding Bushwacker, Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky, Canakkale. Gallipoli. Lest We Forget was originally performed as a lead in to the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove, where it received a rapturous applause from the 8000 people awaiting the sunrise.

            Free from the shackles of nationalism it’s the story of how enemy soldiers shared a mutual hell and grew to respect each other – all the while continuing to kill the other - whilst back home the Turkish and Australian women mourned their missing menfolk. It’s also the story of how Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky encountered the friendship that Turks and Australians share today.

            Please come on time and plan to stay for the entire show. 75 minutes.

 Lest We Forget – Hic Unutmaya Cagiz is ingenious in being able to capture both the Anzac and Turkish experience and present it in a way that it totally accessible, engaging, and respectful, but at the same time quietly theatrical.

(Harvey Broadbent, maker of Gallipoli documentaries)

Newstead Live! (10 Ks from Castlemaine)

Uniting Church

Sunday January 25, 1pm

Entry by festival ticket

Newstead Live!: Festival details HERE

2014 in a nutshell and welcoming 2015

It’s been a big year for Storytelling Australia Victoria.

2014

World Storytelling Day: For the first time we celebrated World Storytelling Day. This was organized and hosted by Teena Hartnett and several of us are now keen to see it as an annual celebration. WSD brought us closer to our Dutch and Canadian cousins, as we rode their wave of enthusiasm. Thank you to Melanie Plag (Netherlands) for encouraging us to submit videos that were fun to make and enjoyed around the world. HERE  The 2015 theme is “Wishes”.

Stories by the Fire: Once again, we ran an open floor event at the Newport Folk Festival. We thank all those (you know who you are) who rocked up with cake, sausage rolls, ginger biscuits and stories. We have been hosting open storytelling for this Festival since 2009, an event inside an event where storytellers with all levels of interest and experience gather and share tales. Graciously hosted by Teena Hartnett.

Words on the Wind: Our key event, a series of six storytelling shows and a workshop, made possible by Melbourne City Council grants and in partnership with the Library at The Dock.  Curated by Anne E Stewart and assisted by Jackie Kerin, the project enabled storytellers to research and develop new material and present the results in a small theatre. The WoW workshop, facilitated by Clare Coburn, was the only one this year and served as a reminder of how valuable these learning opportunities are. We thank Anne who worked long hours on this project.

Here there and everywhere: Members and friends popped up at Festivals (Bendigo, The Village, Port Fairy, The National, Cygnet, Words in Winter, Williamstown), in schools, childcare centers, inside an inflatable fish, at conferences, in cafes, bars, libraries, parks, in streets and Town Halls … in Wonthaggi, Castlemaine, Trentham, Daylesford, Bacchus Marsh, Emerald and Eltham … this list goes on ...

Website: Building on the work of Anne E Stewart,  Kate Lawrence is continuing to create a welcoming space for storytellers of all kinds to connect. Our site is growing in response to the energy that you have sent our way. It’s a work in progress as resources and events are slowly being added. HERE

Facebook:  remains a preferred way to connect and maintain relationships. And this blog/newsletter hopefully fills in the space for folk who are not keen on Fb.

Thank you: SAV has worked to address the organisational housekeeping issues that go with incorporation and name change and I thank Teena Hartnett,  Ronda Gault, Louisa John-Krol, Suzanne Sandow, Cindy-Lee Harper, Gael Cresp, Jan “Yarn” Wositzsky”, Anne E Stewart and Kate Lawrence for their time, patience, guidance and support.

2015 PROJECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES:

Ideas in action: To feed your curiosity about the oral tradition

• Workshop: Myth and Reality: the magic and realism of the ‘Mabinogion HERE
• The Mahabharata Project  HERE
• The Victorian Fairy Tale Ring HERE 

Ideas in development:

• World Storytelling Day
• Monthly Story Exchange
• Workshops June and July (personal storytelling)

JOINING STORYTELLING AUSTRALIA VICTORIA

It’s now easy to join or renew your membership. Membership gives you a discount to SAV events and enables you to join the committee and play an active role in planning. You can also be listed on the website. HERE 

JOINING THE COMMITTEE

If you are a member and would like to join the committee we would welcome you. We meet monthly by teleconference and we are also exploring metropolitan and regional gatherings.  Enquiries: storytellingvic@live.com.au

As we celebrate the passing of 2014 and the beginning of a New Year, on behalf of Storytelling Australia Victoria, I wish you peace wherever you may be. 

Jackie K (president and blog editor)

Fairy Tale News: Victorian Fairy Tale Ring and Australian Fairy Tale Society 2015 Conference: Call for Papers

• The Victorian Fairy Tale Ring
• The Australian Fairy Tale Society 2015 Conference Call for papers

The Victorian Fairy Tale Ring

The Australian Fairy Tale Society is sprouting rings in every state in the shape of Fairy Rings. Louisa John-Krol agreed to lead the Melbourne ring and to include regional and rural fairies. They can be found nesting with Storytelling Australia Victoria and will soon be added to the SAV website.

The Victorian Fairy Tale Ring now has a blog with news of discussions and events. Every couple of months these ethereals discuss (verbally or in writing) a fairy tale theme. You don’t need to be an expert or performer to turn up to a fairy ring. You’re also welcome to share ideas via cyberspace, handwritten letter, or dandelion swish. 

If you are interested in Fairy Tales you might also like the Monash Fairy Tale Salon

Find the Victorian Fairy Tale Ring  HERE 

Visit Louisa's website HERE 

Contact Louisa:  arielsflight@optushome.com.au

The Australian Fairy Tale Society 2015 Conference: Call for Papers

After the success of their inaugural conference in June 2014, the AFTS are  excited to bring you another day of fairy tale discussions.

Transformations: Spinning Straw into Green and Gold

When: Winter Solstice Sunday 21st June, 2015.

Where:   The Judith Wright Room at the NSW Writers’ Centre - Garry Owen House, Callan Park, Balmain Road, Rozelle

The call for papers in now officially open, and will close on January 30th. Information HERE