One Festival, Three Days, and a World of Stories!

Ah, Jonesborough on the first full weekend in October for the National Storytelling Festival. That's where I've spent the last nineteen years. There's nothing like it. The small, historic town in Tennessee has hosted the National Storytelling Festival for forty years. Gigantic white tents dot the green spaces around the town and from within you can hear the voices of storytellers from around the world recounting magical tales. Tellers like the renowned Donald Davis, dynamic Jay O'Callahan, and the witty Carmen Deedy fill the stages to delight the audience. Tellers like Michael Harvey from the UK add an international flavor to the mix.

So what does this have to do with my trip to England you might wonder. Well, for the first time since 1993, I will be elsewhere. I'll be on a plane crossing the Atlantic to a country where some of the tales I've heard  have their roots. Before writing there was telling. The way to pass stories on from generation to generation for thousands of years. Grand oral traditions that were universal and timeless. At last I will be able to see the birth place of not just the folklore of more common folk, but also the great works of English literature. Soon I'll have a tale of my own to share. Probably not a great literary piece, but just maybe a little piece for the common folk like me.