During a performance at the National Storytelling Festival, Alex Haley, the author of Roots, explained how important stories were to his work. “Without storytelling, there would be no Roots,” he said.
There also wouldn’t be conversation. At the International Storytelling Center, we celebrate storytelling as an art form, but it’s also an essential building block of everyday life. Storytelling helps us form connections. It helps us understand who we are and where we’re going. It builds relationships and allows us to experience new worlds, which enriches our personal lives as well as the world around us.
Today it’s my pleasure to reboot the International Storytelling Center’s blog, which was first created by our organization’s founder (and my friend and predecessor), Jimmy Neil Smith. It’ll be a creative outlet to explore the many dimensions of the storytelling movement here in Jonesborough and across the world.
In the meantime, keep sharing your stories!
By Kiran Singh Sirah
Executive Director