Western Maine Storytelling

Why Storytelling?
Storytelling is part of our culture, our personal and collective identity. To tell stories that are engaging is a way for us to understand one another, and it is a way for us to understand the world in which we live. We maintain the living history of the family, community and region through stories.

The 2013 Festival will be July 19 through 21

The featured storytellers will be Susan Poulin, creator of Ida LeClair, "the funniest woman in Maine," and Abenaki storyteller and writer Joseph Bruchac.

Joseph Bruchac and his son, Jesse, will lead a workshop Friday afternoon for teachers, youth workers, and parents. It will be the first of several programs featuring regional Native American stories and culture, including Bruchac’s Friday evening performance, a Saturday morning program for children by Passamaquoddy/Maliseet and Abenaki language-keepers Roger Paul and Jesse Bruchac, and a historical performance by Jo Radner, “Braving the Middle Ground: Stories of Pre-Revolutionary Northern New England.”

In addition, the Festival will feature a poetry reading by Maine Poet Laureate Wes McNair; regional quilt artists showing their quilts and telling the tales behind them; “Stories in Song” with singer-songwriters Matt Shipman, Erica Brown, and Matt and Shannon Heaton; and “Western Maine Talkers” from the logging industry telling stories of their life and work experiences. The loggers will be bringing trucks and logging equipment for visitors to examine.
Planning for the first annual Western Maine Storytelling Festival began in 2010. Each year the festival has been funded, in part, by grants and by donations from local businesses and individuals. As media partner, the Maine Public Broadcasting Network provided publicity and rebroadcast of performances.


How to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Festival.
The Western Maine Storytelling Festival is fiscally sponsored by the National Storytelling Network (www.Storynet.org), a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the national storytelling community. Contributions made to NSN, and earmarked for Western Maine Storytelling Festival, are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Make checks payable to NSN with “Western Maine Storytelling Festival” on the memo line. Mail to: Western Maine Storytelling Festival, 189 Marwick Road, Farmington, ME 04938
To contact NSN: P.O. Box 795, Jonesborough, TN 37659; Phone: 423-913-8201, Fax: 423-731-9331; E-mail: NSN@storynet.org. A copy of NSN’s latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from NSN.