Your online source for Wisconsin storytelling-related information… connecting you with storytellers, events, and guilds, throughout Wisconsin.
Click on the tabs above for information about the annual Wisconsin Storytellers’ Get-Together, to find a directory of Wisconsin storytellers who have chose to support this website, upcoming public events, and local Guilds and Storytelling Clubs.
List your event. Send the following to wiscstory@gmail.com, Title, Date, Location, Contact, website URL.
List your storytelling business. Go to the Directory of Storytellers tab to learn how you can be included in the directory.
Join the Wisconsin Storytelling email listserv! Sign up to be part of the Wisconsin Storytelling by contacting Coral coraltells@gmail.com
SUPPORT
La Crosse Storytelling Festival. The Fest has brought internationally known storytellers to the La Crosse area for 18 years. We have made some changes, date and place, but continue to promote the art of oral stories. We are now struggling a bit because of Covid restrictions and appreciate any help you can give us to continue to bring you stories.
There is a donation button on the front page of the LaCrosse Storytelling website http://www.lacrossestoryfest.
The Wisconsin Storytellers’ Get-Together. We have continued to bring WISTGET to all Wisconsin storytellers despite the pandemic, but it has made an impact on our ability to raise funds for the next in person gathering. An annual gathering of Wisconsin tellers actively engaged in the art and practice of storytelling, the Wisconsin Storytellers’ Get-Together is an informal gathering for sharing stories, ideas & resources. It’s a chance for networking, mutual support and being re-energized for storytelling in whatever form we practice it. Please consider a donation to: Paypal.me/WISTGET20
Whitewater Storytelling Festival. Nestled in the beautiful and inspiring Kettle Moraine State Forest, Whitewater is home to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the Young Auditorium, and a robust artist community supported by the Whitewater Arts Alliance. We could not think of a better place to introduce the magic of storytelling and launch our annual Whitewater Storytelling Festival! The festival weekend will be filled with fun ways to engage with local and regionally known storytellers, art galleries, and creativity-inspiring activities. Stop for the day or stay for the weekend to take in the beauty of our Ice Age Trail community! See more here.
National Storytelling Network. A world in which all people value the power of storytelling and its ability to connect, inspire, and instill respect within our hearts and communities. https://storynet.org/
ABOUT WISCONSIN STORYTELLING
— Various informal gatherings: guilds, small local events, meetings, swaps, etc. that bring folks together locally for storytelling.
— Some professional tellers who offer live and/or online storytelling programs or workshops.
— The Wisconsin Storytelling Get-together (WISTGET) “an annual, informal gathering of state tellers actively engaged in the art and practice of storytelling for sharing stories, ideas & resources. It’s a chance for networking, mutual support and being re-energized for storytelling in whatever form we practice it.”
— Two annual Storytelling Festivals open to the general public (La Crosse & Whitewater)
— Professionally run Slams (ExFabula, Milwaukee)
— TELLABRATION produced annually in various communities over the years (Milwaukee, Monona, LaCrosse). An online version has been produced by the National Storytelling Network during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 & 2021.
— Northlands Storytelling Network was founded in 1979 as a 5-state annual conference that for most of its history has been based in Wisconsin. The mission remains true to its founders: “Northlands inspires story artists to celebrate oral storytelling in all its diversity!” and Wisconsin has benefited by its presence.
— The National Storytelling Network has drawn many Wisconsin tellers to its conferences and membership over the years.
Click Here for Upcoming Events!
A Word from the National Storytelling Network Wisconsin State Liaison
Greetings!
Whether you are receiving this because you’ve attended the annual Wisconsin Storytellers’ Get-Together (WISTGET) or have been identified as a Wisconsin storyteller and landed on the contact list, this is an outreach to inspire and encourage storytelling across the state – and beyond. If you are a member of the National organization or not, there are ways to help or inform your storytelling. Whether you are telling professionally, at your job or informally there is a lot to look into at the National Storytelling website: www.storynet.org. Just opening the website will lead to many options. I’d like to call your attention to the online Newsletter. Just click Resources and select “NSN Newsletters”. “Storytelling allows you to slow down for a little while, to focus, and to present what matters most to you in a way that neither threatens nor preaches. In the end, it allows you to share the greatest gift one can give: one’s self.” An early 2019 Newsletter has some reflections by Kevin Kordi about how storytelling is changing but ways “the fire of story can and should be everywhere”. You don’t have to be a member to sign up to have the Newsletter sent to your e-address weekly for free. However, the Membership Benefits for joining the National Storytelling Network are abundant. Check them out. My favorite is the Storytelling Magazine which is a top notch quarterly publication full of events, trends, people, reviews, and a story or two. Each issue also explores a timely topic through carefully selected articles from leaders in the field. I may be old fashioned but I appreciate the paper-in-hand. I case you haven’t caught on, this is a slightly unabashed commercial for joining the National Storytelling Network. It is also an excuse to reach out to storytellers (of every sort) across the state. Whether you regularly connect with nearby tellers or are doing your thing solo in the hinterland, I hope this encourages you to know that there are options for support as we embrace this rich and personal art we know as oral storytelling. Talefully, Jean-Andrew
