Storyswap - FREE!

StorySwap is at the Historic Murray Theater, 4961 S. State Street in Murray, Utah on November 18-19, 2011. This marks the Guild’s 20th anniversary, and it will be an event to remember! Professional storytellers from all over Utah will be here. Visit their website for complete details.

StorySwap is a free state-wide annual community outreach program that rotates to different counties each year to give the chance for people to experience storytelling.

The Utah Storytelling Guild offers story concerts and workshops free to families so to extend the art with all generations.

We welcome people within and beyond the state of Utah.

The event kicks-off with free storytelling in the schools of the host county. Later that day, a Friday concert is open to the public. People within and beyond the community audition for these performance slots. We love to spotlight at least one exceptional youth teller for this concert.

For Saturday, the morning opens with a keynote address from a state celebrity and/or master storyteller. The “State of the Art” is proclaimed. Attendees of all ages are welcomed to choose one of two tracks: storytelling workshops or story-swapping sessions. The workshops are selected out of many proposals.

The stage area, however, is reserved for the story-swapping. Community members and professionals alike could email usgmemo (at) gmail.com to save a slot to tell a 5-8 minute story. Some sessions encourage themes such as “scary stories”, “animal stories”, or “personal stories”. There is always an “anything goes” session as long as it would work for family audiences. The stories are professionally recorded through sound and/or video. Participants could receive their live recorded story for free before heading home.

During the last session, everyone gathers in the largest room with some hands-on activities and reflection moments. Though the StorySwap ends by 4:00pm on Saturday, people tend to linger to share more stories and memories.

And so the tradition continues today.

For 2011, StorySwap will celebrate the Utah Storytelling Guild’s 20th Anniversary and the 16th year for the event itself.

Thanks Tonya Montez for this information!