Conversations With Storytellers – Details, episodes & analysis

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 hope you enjoy this episode of "Conversations with Storytellers." You can find more of her work including videos and audio recordings at https://shonaleigh.uk/ If you want to join Twilight Tales with Shonaleigh, you can join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/twilighttales/ And my work is, as always, at Diamondscree.com Peace, Simon

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 operated between the States and Brazil, where he grew up. His heritage is part African. This episode is about his research and the story and what it meant to him to be able to tell this story.

Joel ben Izzy is a storyteller from California and has been telling stories for a long time. Then he lost his his voice with thyroid cancer. This is part one of a long conversation of his journey, process and love of tales.

Filled with stories, compassion and a lot of joking around, this is part one of two episodes with Joel.

Joel’s website: https://www.storypage.com/

Sebastian Lockwood is not British, although he sounds VERY British. Sebastian is one who tells the Epics! From the Odyssey and Gilgamesh to Beowulf and beyond. Sebastian raised an owl, talks about getting into trance when storytelling and about being twice born. Our conversation took place in a small cabin in New Hampshire sitting next to a stove, crackling away and amongst all this we also talked about going to school in England.

In this episode we conclude the conversation with Alton Chung, a Japanese-Korean storyteller who grew up with the stories, superstitions, and the magic of the Hawaiian Islands. If you missed part one, please go back and have a listen, it is fascinating. Tales about World War II fighters from the Asian-American people, and people of Hawaii, amongst other things like ghost stories. In this episode we get into folk and fairy tales, the healing power of story and story structure amongst other things!

Sit back and enjoy part two of my conversation with Alton Chung.

 

https://www.altonchung.com/

Alton Chung is a very funny guy, a scientist, an computer guy, theater tech but really a storyteller! We’ve only met once or twice and I have always enjoyed his company.  Alton is a Japanese-Korean storyteller who grew up with the stories, superstitions, and the magic of the Hawaiian Islands. Our conversation led us through the history of Japanese-Americans and Hawaiians in WWII, ghost stories and later in part two on finding stories, his process and healing.

Please enjoy part one of this conversation.

 

https://www.altonchung.com/

Judith Heineman and I met years ago at Sharing the Fire, the North Eastern Storytelling Conference and bonded over dark chocolate. It was at a time when I always had some and some other person let her know! Judith began her career as a poet and actor, and has gone deep with her work as a storyteller. She's worked with musicians and museums! We talk about research, books, kids, energy, and the jitters amongst other topics.

Lorna and I have bumped into one another at a few conferences and festivals, but I heard her play her harp and tell stories at Sharing the Fire, here in the North East. She blew me away. Awardwinner, author, musician, and storyteller, Lorna is one of our gems.

Join me to hear about how families need to be held together and how healing can work. And how you can begin learning a musical instrument at 40 and never look back after dropping the flutaphone at elementary school!

Lorna's website: http://storyhavenstudio.com/index.html 

There is some background noise I could not remove, but it settles down.

Eth-Noh-Tec was founded in 1982 by Artistic Co-Directors Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo, longstanding San Francisco artists who have contributed greatly to the Asian American performing arts movement. They are not only business parteners, but also a wonderful couple! They have many awards under their belts and are incredibly smart and insightful. We talk about many things in this episode, including being invisable as an Asian-American. They discuss their process and who some of their favourite tellers are! http://www.ethnohtec.org/

African-American story twister, and storyteller, Linda Gorham is this month’s guest with Simon Brooks on Conversations with storytellers.

I cannot wait for you to hear the conversation I had with Linda Gorham. There's mention of a little black book!We talk about a city girl and how she made herself a teller of tales. Taking folk tales and fracturing them, or twisting them as she calls it, is Linda’s favourite type of telling. Her collection of stories, and words - made up and otherwise, is inspiring to hear about. Life of a young girl moving around the world and how she has now settled. Please enjoy the conversation with Linda Gorham.

LindaGorham.com