As part of Storytelling Alberta’s 40th anniversary celebrations, we are inviting Storytelling Alberta members, past and present, to gift us a 5 to 10-minute story in any genre from anywhere in the world — from the Prairies to the Alps to the Serengeti. We are livestreaming these stories throughout this special year and tracking the geographic origins of the stories on the world map below. Click the links in the sidebar to listen to each episode in the series. To participate, current and former members can contact Doreen Vanderstoop, Curator and Livestream Host for Around the World in 40 Tales, at dvanderstoop@gmail.com. Thanks to all the wonderful Storytelling Alberta members who are gifting us their stories this year!
Storytelling Alberta is proud to present a Ukrainian folktale told by Storyteller Laureate Mary Hays: “The Mitten”
Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora around the world.
Storytellers
(Click bolded story titles to watch videos)
Bios below map - all times are MT
Mary Hays - Jan. 13th at 10 am “The Brownie of Ferne Glen” (Scotland)
Doreen Vanderstoop - Jan. 20th at 10 am “The Delft Blue Pot” (Holland)
Dorothy Lowrie - Jan. 27th at 2 pm “Daughters of the Sea” (Wales)
Mindy Woolcott - Feb. 3rd at 10 am “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse” (U.S.)
Karen Gummo - Feb. 10th at 10 am “Love in the Turnip Patch” (Denmark)
Russ Forrester - Feb. 17th at 8 pm “Yukon’s Her/History” (Yukon)
Kate Quinn - Feb. 24th at 7 pm “The Fairy Harper” (Ireland)
Karen Gummo - Mar. 3rd at 10 am “How the Hidden People Came To Be” (Iceland)
Maria Crooks - Mar. 10th at 10 am “La Diablesse and the Baby” (Caribbean)
Mary Hays - Mar. 11th “The Mitten” (special edition in honour of the people of Ukraine)
Cassy Welburn - Mar. 17th at 10 am “The Man Who Had No Story” (Ireland)
Kathy Jessup - Mar. 24th at 2 pm “Sweet Misery” (Haiti)
Pearl-Ann Gooding - Mar. 31st at 7 pm “Li’l Oink” (Alberta)
Linda Dawn Blue - Apr. 7th at 10 am “The Man From Galicia” (Galicia, Ukraine)
Linda Shantz-Keresztes - Apr. 14th at 10 am "The Selkie Bride" (Scotland)
Jim Martin - Apr. 21st at 10 am “Road to Retirement” (Red Deer, Alberta)
Gordon Churchill - Apr. 27th at 10 am "The Magpie that Gathered Culture" (Iola, Kansas to Alberta)
Maryke Schouten - June 2nd at 10 am “Kancil Steals Cucumbers” (Indonesia)
Craig Curran-Morton - June 9th at 10 am “Macaroni and Cheese” (B.C.)
Bethany Ellis - June 16th at 10 am “Fari M’Bam” (The Gambia, Africa)
Caroline Stuart - June 23rd at 10 am “The Crofter and the Seal-Women” (Scotland)
Katrina Muzaic - June 30th at 10 am - “The Homesick Bride” (Syria)
Judy Paterson - July 7th at 10 am - “The Elephant and the Dog” (India)
Doreen Vanderstoop - July 14th at 10 am - “The Jug on the Rock” (Tibet)
Anne Cowling - July 21st at 10 am - “The Golden Fish” (Russia)
Linda Dawn Lee - Aug. 4th at 10 am - “Lost in Transit” (Edmonton, Alberta)
Elizabeth Vanderstoop - Aug. 25th at 10 am - “The Coal Disease” (Netherlands)
Anne Cowling - Oct. 13th at 10 am - “Erik Weihenmayer: The Man Who Defeated the Hope Suckers” (New Jersey, USA)
Ellen Gasser - Oct. 18th at 10 am - “Rattlesnake Wisdom” (Alberta)
Mindy Woolcott - Oct. 20th at 10 am - “Martina” (Cuba)
Jennifer Kennedy - Oct. 25th at 10 am - “The Story of Sir Orfeo” (England)
Madiha Madda - Oct. 27th at 10 am - “The Monkey and the Crocodile” (India)
Ginger Mullen - Nov. 1st at 10 am - “The Dragon’s Pearl” (Szechuan Province, South China)
Gordon Churchill - Nov. 3rd at 10 am - “Killing the Chicken” (Alberta)
Troy Stooke - Nov. 8th at 10 am - “Poppies for Walter” (Alberta)
Pearl-Ann Gooding
Pearl-Ann’s passion for oral literature has taken her across Canada where she has performed in and attended concerts, festivals, museums, libraries, schools and conferences. She is the recipient of the National Story Keeper award, which acknowledges not only her ability in storytelling but her service within the art form. She lives and works in Wainwright, Alberta with her husband and mini dachshund. Storytelling and story listening is alive and well with her students, children and grandchildren!
Mary Hays
Mary Hays is a founding member of Storytelling Alberta (formerly TALES) and co-founder of StoryShare. She has been telling stories for 30 years at the kitchen table, in the garden and in schools, libraries, museums and even in the graveyard and the tipi! Mary was named Storytelling Alberta's Storyteller Laureate in 2020.
Jennifer Kennedy
Jennifer Kennedy has been a member of Storytelling Alberta, Strathcona Chapter since 1998. She has volunteered on the executive in one capacity or another for most of that time. Jennifer also writes, mostly speculative fiction and poetry, under the byline J.Y.T. Kennedy. She has drawn on many sources as a storyteller but has always had a particular interest in early literature with its blend of history, myth, and folklore.
Linda Dawn Lee
Linda Dawn grew up in a family of storytellers, so she comes by her craft honestly. She has been an active member of Storytelling Alberta and Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada for many years. LD especially enjoys sharing “stories from the heart;” tales of ordinary folks going about their daily lives in extraordinary ways. Folks young and old have been entertained by her renditions of old stories and legends with updated twists. Her forte is stories of railroaders, especially those in Western Canada. Her Around the World story is a tribute to her family, who have all lived and worked on the railway.
Ginger Mullen
Since 1992, Ginger Mullen’s immersion into the oral tradition has led to a unique storytelling style that blends performance and scholarship. Having earned a Master of Arts that focused on folktales in general, and the ballad of “Tam Lin” in particular, she brings to her craft a deep and layered understanding of the stories she tells. Currently, she juggles several roles that draw on her multi-disciplinary knowledge. She teaches Storytelling at Mount Royal University in Calgary and University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She presents papers about various folktales both nationally and internationally. And she continues to tell stories and facilitate programs for schools and community organizations.
Judy Paterson
Judy Paterson is the multi-talented winner of Storytelling Alberta’s 2020 Emerging Storyteller Scholarship. Since then, she has performed stories of various genres at concerts, Tellarounds and as a valued member of the StoryShare Project. Judy’s specialty is telling engaging personal stories about growing up on the Prairies. She is also a writer of flash fiction and a not yet published novel. Judy has found that storytelling provides a beautiful link between her writing and speech arts. Last year, Judy assumed the presidency of Storytelling Alberta Calgary Chapter.
Maryke Schouten
Maryke Schouten is a Registered Dietitian and writer based in Airdrie, Alberta. She is the Legacy Video Administrator for the StoryShare Project. Every video recording is memorable for Maryke – working with a client, hearing how they lived and building the video with music and photographs that they have shared is a small parcel of joyful connection. Her debut novel, The Beckoning Sky, was released in the fall of 2022.
Caroline Stuart
Caroline started storytelling around the dinner table. She loves to explore heritage stories, Scottish, German and Turkish tales. The old tales hold wisdom and show the paths her ancestors’ traveled and understood. Caroline uses the old stories to understand her family journey and also to explore where her path differs. Caroline has been telling, listening and participating with Storytelling Alberta for thirty years. It is such a pleasure to be celebrating 40 years of Storytelling Alberta and how story has touched her life.
Doreen Vanderstoop
Doreen is a storyteller, musician and writer based in Calgary, Alberta. She sings, plays guitar, and performs oral stories of all kinds for audiences of all ages. Doreen also leads workshops to inspire in others a passion for story and the oral tradition. Her debut novel, Watershed, was published by Freehand Books in May 2020. Watershed has received critical acclaim, appearing frequently on best seller lists in Alberta.
Cassy Welburn
Cassy Welburn is a Calgary storyteller and poet with a theatrical background who has taught new Canadians and shares her work in schools across Canada. She was the Canadian Children’s Book Society’s Storyteller on Tour for 2013. Her work has appeared on radio and in many literary anthologies. Her book of storytelling and poetry, Changelings, 2015, as well as her CD, Cassiopeia: From the Night Tree, are available from Frontenac House.
Gordon Churchill
Gord Churchill is a storyteller, woodworker and retired minister. He began storytelling while working in the United Church as a clergy person, and he expanded this pursuit by exploring his family history and joining Storytelling Alberta. He has told many kinds of stories in multiple venues. He has also told stories at Story Slam Calgary, and the Moth in New Orleans. He believes that stories are a meld of the intended story line, the reactions of the audience and the creativity of the moment, even on a Livestream.
Anne Cowling
Anne Cowling has been writing stories since she was six years old, at which time she was introduced to some Russians and their folk tales. While she still enjoys telling folk tales, especially Russian ones, she more often tells personal stories - the adventures and pratfalls and moments of joy in everyday life.
Maria Crooks
Maria Crooks is a Calgary playwright who began writing in 2011. Her plays have been produced by Urban Stories Theatre. Her first play, The Servant, received a nomination for a CAT Award in 2015. Maria has performed in many Storytelling Alberta concerts, Story Cafes at Shelf Life Books, and on the CJSW program Charmer’s Almanac. She has fond memories of sitting at the dinner table listening to family members recount folktales from the Caribbean.
Craig Curran-Morton
Craig believes stories help us to understand our past and guide our future. As a facilitator, he uses stories to help individuals and groups come together, understand each others’ perspectives and find the right path forward. Craig is on a journey to understand the stories of his Indigenous grandmother and the family that came before her.
Bethany Ellis
Widely travelled with a background in theatre and education, Bethany Ellis has taken her tales to England, Asia and Africa, and across Canada in classrooms, pre-schools, libraries, seniors’ centres, theatres, behind barns under trees, and thrice in a graveyard. She is the co-founder, playwright and director of Caraway Story Theatre, which has been in operation for 14 years. She frequently tours schools and libraries with Young Alberta Book Society (YABS) and is available for school bookings and as an artist-in-residence to teach storytelling and Story Theatre.
Russ Forrester
Russ was born and raised in Calgary, and is now living on Vancouver Island. He is a professional engineer who values making a difference for others. He has volunteered with Search and Rescue, Disabled Skiing and the Calgary Folk Music Festival. Russ is an amateur musician who thinks trombones rule! He is proud to be Métis. When he’s not volunteering, playing music or renovating older homes, he enjoys long walks with his spouse and two rescue dogs, Jake and Myra.
Ellen Gasser
Ellen Gasser has always loved stories, both written and oral. She was a voracious reader as a child and loved to listen to the stories of her English grandmothers and her talented tale telling Uncle Lloyd. Her long career in natural and cultural history interpretation with Alberta Parks, Heritage Park, and a variety of museums and visitor centres, and her passion for researching history has led her to many stories. She loves telling stories around campfires, on guided walks, in interpretive shows, at Tellarounds, and through her writing.
Karen Gummo
Karen is a storyteller, dancer, visual artist and a founding member of Storytelling Alberta at Calgary. A descendant of Icelanders and Danes who settled in Alberta between 1889 and 1929, Karen tells the myths, sagas and folklore of the Norse people, especially the tales of her adventurous family. For 30 years Karen has offered workshops and carried out residencies at schools, and museums. Karen has travelled as a storyteller with the Young Alberta Book Society and has toured in Ontario, Newfoundland and as far away as Iceland to offer her heartfelt sagas.
Kathy Jessup
Edmonton children’s writer and storyteller Kathy Jessup has been entertaining audiences since she first learned to talk. Over the years she’s performed her original stories and world folktales in schools, libraries, concerts, and festivals across Canada and around the world. Kathy’s stories and articles have appeared in various publications including the children’s magazine chickaDEE, and the Alberta Centennial anthology Under the Wide Blue Sky: Alberta Stories to Read and Tell published by Red Deer Press.
Dorothy Lowrie
As a lifelong learner, Dorothy’s business focus is on empowering other members of the Third Age generation through learning opportunities. She spent 35 years working for an international IT corporation and has achieved much academic success including earning a Degree in Business Administration and a Masters in Adult Education. Dorothy recently became President of Storytelling Alberta Edmonton Chapter.
Jim Martin
Jim Martin, now based Red Deer, Alberta, is originally from Saskatchewan where his first job was as a shrimp fisherman, yes a shrimp fisherman in Saskatchewan, it's true, ask him about it sometime. His career in Structural Engineering took him and his wife Sandy and two daughters to dam construction projects throughout western Canada and Africa. Jim and Sandy are now retired and, if Covid ever gives up, he and other tellers will host a launch event for the newly minted Red Deer Chapter of Storytelling Alberta.
Katrina Muzaic
Katrina Muzaic is a storyteller, library technician, and dancer in Calgary. Her storytelling journey began while studying library information technology at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. After graduation, she carried on practicing her storytelling through performing at the Calgary story slam. She has also worked for the Whyte Museum in Banff where she developed a special interest in oral history. Later she began volunteering with TALES in the StoryShare program, and soon after became a member. She continues to experiment with her stories and hopes of bringing connection to all audiences.
Kate Quinn
Kathleen Quinn lives in Edmonton, but her teens and twenties were spent in Calgary. In 1991, she and her mother travelled to Ireland on a Sacred Storytelling Tour. Back in Edmonton, she took Storytelling 101 with Tigge Anne Anderson, one of the founders of TALES (The Alberta League Encouraging Storytelling - now Storytelling Alberta). Kathleen has been a member of TALES/Storytelling Alberta since 1992.
Linda Shantz-Keresztes
Linda Shantz- Keresztes has been involved with storytellers in Calgary since the early 1970’s, when she packed her Ontario bags and headed for the wild west to experience further educational opportunities. During and following a long career as a teacher-librarian, Linda has been fortunate to share her love of stories with all ages. Currently she is involved in a local Storytelling Alberta project called StoryShare for isolated seniors and has found this to be most rewarding.
Troy Stooke
Troy Stooke is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, living in Calgary with her husband of 43 years. She is retired from social work, and has a MEDes (Master in Environmental Design) in Environmental Science. Troy’s family are the Hubers, Stevens, McKays and Fiddlers and the Hendersons/Whitfords/ Spences by marriage. She is a kookum to four wonderful grandchildren and auntie to many nieces and nephews. Her stories are dedicated to anyone needing to build their courage to dig in and ask important questions.
Elizabeth Vanderstoop
Elizabeth Vanderstoop began sharing stories, from fanciful to heartfelt, when she shared a room with her sisters as a child. After moving to Canada with her husband Neil and their four children, she worked for many years in the public education system in Calgary, holding various posts in administration and special needs support. She is a long-time champion of Storytelling Alberta.
Mindy Woolcott
Mindy is a retired French Immersion/Learning Disabilities teacher who has been telling stories (some true, most not) for over 20 years. She creates customized programs and specializes in fables, folktales, and legends. She has told in libraries, coffee shops, schools, churches and festivals. If you ask, she may well tell! We asked and today, she will.