2024 and the stories begin!

As someone who enjoys a little uncertainty when it comes to living the life of a storyteller - I’m well satisfied with how things have been going.

In January, the year kicked of with The Big Story Day hosted by Hobsons Bay Library. This was a day of multi lingual stories and stories with music - for all ages. Sarah Depasquale and I had fun with kamishibai during the picnic breaks. K is perfect for outdoors where there are distractions and the picnic shelter provided us with concert hall acoustics! It was a joy to see our bilingual storytelling colleagues in action: Anna Manuel (Tagalog), Rohini Vij (Hindi) and Dee Palanisamy (Tamil).

Mid March delivered a run of days. The Japanese Language Teacher’s Association Conference was sandwiched between celebrating World Storytelling Day twice!

The idea to attend the conference and promote the use of kamishibai in the language classroom was led by my friend Anna Manuel - brilliant story creator and gifted teacher - it’s my privilege always to work with Anna. We’re both over preparers, and planned a display table to accompany our presentation. Our session was called Unleashing the Magic of Kamishibai in the Language Classroom - teacher artists and artist teachers. Getting the gear into the Convention Centre is a story in itself however that aside, it was a thrill to see the teachers enjoying the resources.

There was a bit going on at the Convention Centre - fun to be in the mix with Anna

I celebrated World Storytelling Day twice - with the Newport Storytellers - once for adults and again with children. Together with my friends Em Chandler and Adrian Newington, we run regular community storytelling evenings throughout the year and a couple of special events - WSD being one of those. Visit our page, read all about us and check out our videos and podcast. Our regular gatherings operate as a hybrid and have a Zoom option so people can participate whereever they are in the world. I love these photos Adrian took of us celebrating under the tree in the Newport Lakes Park. Our event was part of the annual Bush Dance. L - R: Em, books, Sarah and me, Rohini.