Conversations With Storytellers

Shonaleigh comes from an old Jewish tradition. Hailing from Britain, she is a Drut'syla (pronounced Dreet-zella). who was taught around 3,000 stories by her Bubbe, Eldith Marks. These stories are told traditionally in cycles. Some stories are short, but some are incredibly long. They make the Odyssey look like a Saturday morning cartoon. Shonaleigh was a delight to chat with, and I

Antonio Rocha has created a masterful piece of storytelling about a slave ship called Malaga. There is a connection between the ship and Antonio and this plays into his telling. I cannot wait to share this conversation with you. Antonio began life as a mime, then became a storyteller. In 2020 he discovered a story about a slave ship which was built in Maine, where he now lives, and

I have been seeing and bumping into Fran Stallings for a long while and have had one or two conversations with her and we have talked about doing this for a long time. On this episode, unfortunately there is a popping sound from, I think, Fran's microphone. It came over on the recording and I couldn’t always get rid of it. Apologies for staticky tech! Also, we talked about suffra

Joseph Bruchac is one of the preeminent Native storytellers in the USA. He is part Slovak and part Abenaki. He is a keeper of Native traditional tales, marched with Martin Luther King Jr., told poetry with Robert Bly and is one of my favourite storytellers and writers. Did you know he drove (and maybe still drives) a Harley, and taught in Ghana? Now you do! Find out other fascinati

Raised in Clayton, New York, Regi Carpenter came from the school of scrappy, studied music, but became a storyteller! Although steeped in folk and fairy tales, myths and legends, she also tells deep personal narrative. Digging deep in the well of truth she brings her love of language to all the tales she tells, and shares with us her two very different processes on learning stories

I had been hearing about Doug for a while, and then heard his harmonica at a festival, then briefly met with him at said festival. I bought one of his CDs and loved what he did, and decided we should hear his voice here! Doug is a humble man with a deep knowledge of the woods, marshes, swamps, rainforests and a deep desire to show the human connection with the world about us throug

I first heard Michael D McCarty, laugh. It was in a far off room so I followed the sound and listened to him impart joy and happiness upon all around him. There was, and is, some sort of magical aura he gives off, and it is quite wonderful. Originally from Chicago, and now of Los Angeles, Michael first wanted to be a physicist, or an astronaut, and became a Black Panther, an acup

Eldrena Douma (pronounced Dow-MAH) is of the Tewa, Hopi and Laguna people of the South West. This, part two of another two part interview, covers Why Native American stories should not be told by those not within their community. Over the course of the two episodes we talk about story and what story means to the Pueblo people. Eldrena also talks about her (great?) grandmother who

Eldrena Douma (pronounced Dow-MAH) is of the Tewa, Hopi and Laguna people of the South West. This, part one of another two part interview, covers a lot of history of Eldrena's upbringing, and growing up between Winslow and First Mesa. Over the course of the two episodes we talk about story and what story means to the Pueblo people and why some First Americans do not like their stor

This is part two of the Conversation with Joel ben Izzy. If you haven’t listened to part one, please do so, as you won’t know what’s going on. The last episode ended on a cliff hanger! Joel hales from the West Coast, living in California. He’s been telling stories for a long time. Then he lost his his voice with thyroid cancer. This is part one of his journey, process and l