Telephone (910) 291-0929 or (910) 277-3599
The Storytelling Festival of Carolina
At The Historic John Blue House in Laurinburg, North Carolina
Children's book author and storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy was born in Havana, Cuba, emigrated to the U. S. with her family in 1963 just after the Cuban Revolution, and grew up in Decatur, GA. She has authored six children's books and her most recent, "The Yellow Star" has won more than a dozen awards including the 2001 Christopher Award and the 2001 Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Book Award. Ms. Deedy lives in Atlanta.
Andy Offutt Irwin is an American storyteller, arts educator and singer-songwriter. Born in a small town in Georgia, Irwin began his career in 1984 in an improvisational comedy troupe. After five years he shifted to performing as a singer-songwriter. In the mid-1990s, he branched into performances for children and since then has appeared in hundreds of schools (from preschools to colleges) and countless public libraries.
Whether he's singing about catfish or wailing out a jivey harmonica tune, Doug Elliott will take you on an unforgettable multifaceted cultural tour of North America's back country. He performs tradidional tales, ancient legends inspiring stories, folklore and outrageous personal narratives flavored with regional dialects lively harmonica riffs and more than a few belly laughs.
Good storytelling is like poetry to your ears…good poetry is storytelling at it’s best. Storytelling and poetry go together like hand in glove. Ninety percent of the stories I tell are in rhyme so I coined the term “sto’etry” to describe my unique style of telling.
A commanding presence, beautiful singing voice, impeccable comedic timing, and perfectly woven stories makes Kim a must see. Known for her skills in laying down a whopperof a tale, Kim combines humor, original childhood stories and just a touch of fertilizer to create stories that can compete with the best of them.
Gwendolyn M. Rainer is a long-time resident of Laurinburg NC. She has a Masters of Library and Information Science Degree from NC Central Univ. in Durham. She is a retired high school English teacher and media specialist. Gwen got her start in storytelling to entertain her family. Paul Lawrence Dunbar is her favorite poet, and she loves reciting his poetry in dialect.