Photography by Judy Culp
A storyteller at the 2015 festival
Library patrons are used to visiting their local branch to immerse themselves in the written word. For 10 days in October, you can visit a branch to experience the best storytelling as well. For 42 years, the University of Missouri Extension hosted the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, one of the largest free storytelling festivals in the world. After four decades, the extension was ready to pass the torch but knew that the tradition of storytelling was important to continue. They approached the St. Louis County Library about becoming the new host, and, says its director and CEO Kristen Sorth, “it made perfect sense for what we’re trying to accomplish at the library.”
That mission is to “enrich individual minds, enhance lives, and expand perspectives,” and from October 13–22, eight featured storytellers will share world-expanding tales at library branches, the Missouri History Museum, the J's Mirowitz Performing Arts Center, and High Low. All events are free. Storytellers include St. Louis’ own Emmy-winning Bobby Norfolk, 65-time Moth Slam winner Nestor Gomez, and Trix Bruce, who is deaf and uses American Sign Language to tell stories that are then interpreted for the hearing audience.
Even though the Storytelling Festival is finding a new home in the St. Louis County Library, many of the elements of the festival remain from previous years. But, Sorth says, “we put the library spin on it.” New this year is a puppet show ("The Three Pigs of Piggyville") and a kid-friendly spooky stories session. Storytellers will also be visiting senior living facilities.
What can families expect? If you’re a regular at library story time…well, this won’t be exactly like that. It’s not going to be someone reading a book. “It's almost like extracting a character from a book and telling the story as that character,” Sorth says. “It’s almost like a one-person play.”
A highlight of the program is Tales After Dark, an evening of family-friendly spooky stories by storytellers Queen Nur, Bruce, Motoko Dworkin, and Norfolk. If you’re worried about scaring the bejesus out of your kids with their first “Girl and the Green Ribbon” experience, fear not—Sorth promises the spooky stories are pretty tame. “We were so careful about that because we don't want kids to come and be afraid,” she says. “It’s storytelling based on myths and legends, but when we say ‘family friendly,’ we mean really family friendly.” That program takes place at 7 p.m. October 14 at the Florissant Valley Branch (195 New Florissant, South). You can find a complete list of programming here.
