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Storytelling FAQs and Resources
 Anansi the Spider is a trickster character found in many, many African folktales. According to one of these, Anansi originally tricked the Sky God into giving him all the world's stories and thus, it's said, all stories belong to Anansi. His stories have travelled the world with many storytellers. In fact, Anansi would undoubtedly claim that he wove the world wide web! So, with all that experience, he's ready to respond to any question you may have.
Ask Anansi (click here)
He'll spin you an answer as soon as possible, most likely within a week. And he may put your question (and the answer) up on this page.
Q:
Dear Anansi,
I've been to Tellabration in Connecticut for years. What is the best way to find a course or begin learning how to tell a story or a poem. I'm really interested in courses I can take. Does Connecticut College offer beginning courses? What do you suggest?
A:
Dear Storyteller-in-the-Making,
There are so many ways to introduce oneself into the web of storytelling in Connecticut. When I was a young spider, many, many moons ago, I would watch other spiders and note how they spun their webs, picking up on all their styles of intricacy, pattern, breadth, and so on, and you can do the same with stories and storytelling. There are a number of Story Sharing groups in Connecticut and neighboring states; they love to have new people join them, either to listen, or to try out a new story. It's a kindly, supportive environment where one gets useful feedback from other tellers and can hear a variety of tales told in different styles. In between meetings it's not a bad idea to listen to some stories on tape or CD: most of the larger libraries have a collection from, Yellow Moon Press, or August House Multimedia Publishing; You can also go to either of these houses directly if you want to buy any materials.
As for courses, here's the scoop: there are none at the present time at Connecticut College but, 1) Dr. Wendy Nowlan offers a series of mini-courses at Southern CT State University in New Haven. She can be contacted at: 203-392-5711, r.nowlan@snet.net; 2) Storytelling in Education is a 3-credit graduate course offered in the spring term (January-April) at Sacred Heart University, School of Education, taught by Connie Rockman. Contact Sacred Heart University Education Dept. (203-371-7808) for more information. And 3) Emily Chasse teaches a course at Central CT State University in New Britain. You can reach Emily at 860-832-2063, to learn when the next one is taking place. Some people also find Toastmasters a good place to practise telling stories and general public speaking skills.
Whichever you choose, good luck to you - you'll soon be spinning as many yarns as I do. And, don't forget - Tellabration is coming up again: click here to see all the venues.
Happy telling!
Anansi
Click here for more resources online.
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