Tim Lowry
Storytelling Live!, the International Storytelling Center's celebrated teller-in-residence series, continues its season in September. The program features 26 of America's best-loved storytellers, one each week May through October. Each teller appears in matinee performances Tuesday through Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, Jonesborough, Tenn.
Jim May, an Emmy award-winning storyteller and writer from Illinois, joins the center Aug. 30 through Sept. 3. May's stories are hilarious, touching and filled with the many characters who populated the Illinois farming community where his family has lived since the 1840s. He has performed for more than one million folks in the Chicago area over the last 30 years. His story collection, "The Farm on Nippersink Creek," won a best book award from the Public Librarian Association, and this year his new book, "Trail Guide for a Crooked Heart: Stories and Reflections for Life's Journeys," was released. May has shared his work throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is the recipient of the NSN ORACLE Circle of Excellence award.
Sept. 6-10 welcomes Tennessee's Minton Sparks. The Huffington Post writes, "Where to begin with the genre defying Minton Sparks: poet, storyteller, singer, comedienne, educator, writer, activist, essayist, philosopher, painter, performance artist? Sparks holds a curved mirror to society." Sparks fuses wildly original poetry and an intoxicating gift for storytelling into performances that share her memories of growing up in a small-town southern family. Sparks' writing has received acclaim from NPR's Weekend All Things Considered and BBC's Bob Harris Show. Her appearances range from the venerable Old Towne School of Folk Music to the Lincoln Center in New York City to the Grand Ole Opry. Her performances are punctuated with music from the acoustic guitar of John Jackson, who's perhaps best known for having played with Bob Dylan.
Oba William King from Illinois appears Sept. 13-17. Known as The Poetic Storyteller, King is a motivator, educator and a prolific and gripping teller whose storytelling performances are designed to celebrate diversity. He tours nationally presenting his dynamic programs that include song and traditional drum. The founder of JUSTUSarts Educational Entertainment, he is an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award recipient in Traditional Folk Arts. King's appearances include the Exchange Place at the National Storytelling Festival, the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage Family Story Night and Charleston Tells Storytelling Festival.
Storytelling Live! welcomes Teller-In-Residence favorite Tim Lowry of South Carolina Sept. 20-24. Audiences across the country enjoy the seersucker style of storyteller Lowry, as he mixes stories of the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Western Frontier with tales of growing up Baptist, teaching English to Russian immigrants, exciting road trips to Disney World, baseball and more. The award-winning recording artist and author has performed on television and in hundreds of appearances nationwide. In addition to his regular performances, Lowry also presents "Imagination and Education," a workshop geared to K-5 teachers Sept. 24 from 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Rounding out the month of September, from Sept. 27 – Oct. 1, is Don White of Massachusetts. He has brought audiences to laughter and tears in his live performances, studio recordings and on the printed page for over 20 years. As a storyteller, comedian, author, troubadour, folksinger and songwriter, White is a walking challenge to the phrase "file under." The Boston Globe writes, "No artist on the coffeehouse circuit today is better than Don White at combining the heartfelt aesthetics of the singer-songwriter with side-splitting laughs."
For more information about Storytelling Live! or to purchase tickets call 800-952-8392 ext. 222 or 423-913-1276.
