The 7th Annual Spirit of Oklahoma Storytelling
Festival will convene in Bethany, Oklahoma on the campus of Southern Nazarene
University, June 13-14, 2014. The
location is on the “Mother Road”, historic Route 66, so it will be an exciting
time with keynote teller, Kent Rollins, “The Cowboy Cook and Storyteller.” Rollins
has been featured with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. The exciting two-day event is presented by
Oklahoma’s only statewide storytelling arts organization, The Territory
Tellers.
Along with slingin’ hash, Kent has become pretty good at
slingin’ bull as he describes life on the range through poetry and
storytelling. Don’t be surprised if Kent gets a chuckle out of you because his
poetry and storytelling talents have earned him the Skinny Roland Humor Award
for Best Humorist and Storyteller and he was nominated three times for Best
Storyteller, all by the Academy of Western Artists. In addition to Rollins, some of the best of
Oklahoma’s very own storytelling artists will be sharing their most tantalizing
tales. On Saturday look forward to Rollins’ workshops
on “Dutch Oven Cooking and Maintenance
Workshop” and “Western Heritage.”
Professional storyteller Fran Stallings will offer “Positive Feedback: A Coaching Workshop” in a 2 part series on Saturday. These session focus on providing crucial
feedback to a volunteer teller and in the process others can learn ways to
improve how they develop as a story artist.
There will lots of opportunity to hear delightful and
intriguing tales during the festival. Major evening storytelling concerts,
featuring the keynote and select regional artists on both evenings and spread
throughout both days are other mini-story concerts (swaps) and always fun
informal “table telling.” Vendors, a silent auction and other events will round
out activities.
Musical entertainment on Friday night in a special
“pre-concert” event will be with prairie jazz band F5 Four playing music inspired by contemporary Oklahoma folklore
and iconography.
Other special events will include shivery “Ghost Tales in the
Pavilion” at 9 pm on Friday with Kathryn Thurman, Marilyn A. Hudson (The Ghost Teller), and others. Kathy Anderson will be sharing the history and
lore of Route 66, which is Bethany's
main street, in a special workshop. Kathy is former president of the Oklahoma
Route 66 Association and current president of the Billboard Museum Association. A new workshop of note this year is “Biblical
Storytelling” on Saturday with Barbara Wright Jones and Cynthia Calloway.
Registration begins at 10 am on Friday and goes all day;
first session and registration is at 8:00 am on Saturday and goes all day. There is an admission fee (by day, full
event, and some events, such as the Ghost Tales, are free). All events take place in the
Webster Commons building on the campus of Southern Nazarene University,
Bethany, Oklahoma.
For more information contact Marilyn A. Hudson (Contact Phone 405-307-0962; Contact Email marilynahudson@yahoo.com) and see the complete festival schedule and registration information at www.territorytellers.org.
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