Hello Storytellers of Europe,

In this book project, we are seeking:

• Stories that have the capacity to inspire insight and understanding,
• Tales about the power to transform ourselves and the world around us,
• Stories that move others to commitment and action

...Whether they are myths, legends, folktales, wonder tales or personal stories. Perhaps a story you tell will come to mind as you read these questions.

We are also looking for European storytellers whose inspired involvement in storytelling projects has encouraged others to move along the continuum toward healthier lifestyles on an individual, community, environmental, or spiritual basis.

In a live interview, we would only ask questions significant to your experience and responses. Because we cannot meet with each of you in person, we welcome your involvement in this book project through responses to the following questions - please feel free to answer only those questions that are relevant to your experience.

All contributions that are included in this book will be credited - even simple quotes. Our hope is that storytellers will be interested in contributing articles, stories, exercises, songs, etc. In our previous books, all contributors of stories, articles, exercises, etc., were also credited with bios and received a choice of either a small stipend & one copy of the book or no stipend & more books. We arranged a substantial discount for these contributors for purchasing the books to sell at their own venues. We will strive to have this arrangement available to our contributors for this project too. No material will be used without written permission of the contributor.

As you respond to this interview, you are certainly welcome to share information on more than one story/article/exercise/etc. If you choose to share on multiple topics - just label each entry by topic.

Click Here for a list of possible topics for this book that that may bring one of your stories or some of your storytelling work to mind.

Note: You can cut and paste your responses into the box from your favorite word processor.

YOUR STORY

1a. What have you learned about how stories can contribute to healing and social transformation?

1b. Has there been anything about working with story as a healing art that has surprised you?

1c. Do you ever use this focus for storytelling as part of your professional work or in volunteer efforts?

STORIES

Do you have a story you are willing to share in this book that is related to a healing theme?

2a. If yes, can you share your story (or at least the bones of the story) here?

We are also wondering:

2b. What was the audience response to this story? What feedback did you receive? What questions did people ask? How did you respond?

2c. Did you use any activities (exercises, games, songs, art, puppets, discussion, etc.) to engage your audience as part of sharing this story or stories? If so - what was your goal for this activity? What was the audience response to your activity?

2d. What is the background to this story - where did it come from historically?

2e. Do you usually share this story at any special settings and events? If so, who was the audience for this story?

PROJECTS

Have you participated in projects that incorporated storytelling for healing purposes?

3a. If you are willing to write an article about your work for this book project, can you briefly outline what the focus of your article would be about?

We are also curious to know~

3b. Who were the participants in this project?

3c. What was the purpose of this project?

3d. Did you have community partners for this work?

3e. Was any data collected on your storytelling project to assess the results of your work?

3f. How were you able to fund this storytelling project?

WORKSHOPS & TRAININGS

Do you offer workshops or training on storytelling as a healing art?

Would you be willing to write an article about your workshops or training for this book project?

4a. If yes, can you briefly outline what the focus of your article or exercise and story would be about?

4b. What experiences or theories do you share with your class to illustrate how story can encourage healing?

4c. Do you teach how to learn, shape and tell stories for these purposes?

4d. Do you offer guidelines for this work?

4e. Do you discuss how to find a story that's right for the teller, audience and focus of the event?

4f. Do you discuss what to keep in mind when adapting stories from other tellers, authors and cultures?

RESOURCES & QUOTES

5a. We plan to compile a recommended bibliography - can you think of stories in other books or publications that would fit this subject or the other subjects listed above and that you recommend we include in this book?

5b. Do you have any favorite quotations about storytelling related to healing through story?

5c. Are there other storytellers engaged in this type of work that you recommend we contact?

HISTORY OF HEALING THROUGH STORY

6. Do you know of any historical use or mention of storytelling for healing purposes in Europe?

7. Are you familiar with sites in Europe that were known for being a center for healing and where stories were shared?

8. Do you know of any stories about these places or about this type of storytelling happening?

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have contributed to any of the questions, please be sure to send us as much of the the following information as possible so we can contact you.

Name:


E-mail:


Mailing Address:


City:


Country:


Phone:


Fax:

Any additional ideas on this topic that we have forgotten to ask?

We are open to your input - we want this book to be a collective effort.