In Conversation with Ellouise Schoettler

I can't quite remember the timeline of how I met Ellouise Schoettler. I'm sure it was via email first (perhaps on STORYTELL). She introduced herself in person at the Bay Area Storytelling Festival. I ran into her again in Fresno, California, at the Rogue Festival. And then I found her blog, and her online videos. I've learned a lot from Ellouise: we worked together in a MasterMind group, and this year, we each had shows at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC (where I finally got to hear her tell in person... and she had one of the most focused, robust social media strategies for promoting her show of any of the 130+ artists in the Festival). While I was there, she asked me to come be interviewed on her cable television show, "Stories in Focus," and I was delighted to talk with her on camera about my work as a storyteller and storytelling blogger.



Considering we didn't plan our conversation at all, I thought we managed to sound reasonably coherent. Ellouise wanted to keep the conversation lively, so all I knew going in was that I could tell a story (about 10-12 minutes long) and that I should think of a tip to share at the end of the show.

Happy 100th Episode, Art of Storytelling Show

Over at The Art of Storytelling Show, Eric Wolf is celebrating 3 years of his podcast with a 100th episode jubilee. If you haven't had a chance to listen to any of Eric's podcast before, it's a veritable encyclopedia of the current storytelling revival in North America. Each episode is an interview with a working artist, producer, or academic in the storytelling community. Whether you're interested in personal stories, ghost stories, or working with stories in classrooms, you'll find something of value in one or more of these free interviews (If you've never listened, you might want to skip episode 100... it's self-referential).

I'm pleased to note that later this year, Eric Wolf will receive an award from the National Storytelling Network for Distinguished National Service, for his efforts sharing the knowledge of the storytelling community through his podcast.

Storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham on Alabama's Ghost Trail

While combing through YouTube for video of storytellers, I found a terrific interview with Alabama storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham, recorded for the Alabama Ghost Trail (a project of Southwest Alabama Tourism). She's mostly not telling stories in the interview (though there are a few), but talking about storytelling, so I thought I'd let her do the talking. (Interview in three parts, about 30 minutes total)

Part 1, she talks about ghost stories, and a little about her own ghost, Jeffrey.


Part 2: More about Jeffrey, the importance of storytelling in the Southern United States and her part of Alabama, blue bottle trees, and family storytelling.


Part 3: telling ghost stories to children, why ghosts come back, collecting and preserving ghost stories.


These videos were produced by Matt Wilson in association with the University of Alabama Fellows Experience and Southwest Alabama Tourism. You can find more videos from the Alabama Ghost Trail at: http://www.youtube.com/user/AlabamasGhostTrail