Presents 260 of the rural South's best stories collected over a twenty year period, with their roots in Anglo-Saxon, African-American, and Native American traditions

Marrakech is the heart and lifeblood of Morocco's ancient storytelling tradition. For nearly a thousand years, storytellers have gathered in the Jemaa el Fna, the legendary square of the city, to recount ancient folktales and fables to rapt audiences. But this unique chain of oral tradition that has passed seamlessly from generation to generation is teetering on the brink of extinction. The competing distractions of television, movies and the internet have drawn the crowds away from the storytellers and few have the desire to learn the stories and continue their legacy. Richard Hamilton has witnessed at first hand the death throes of this rich and captivating tradition and, in the labyrinth of the Marrakech medina, has tracked down the last few remaining storytellers, recording stories that are replete with the mysteries and beauty of the Maghreb. Moroccan tales have a huge educational, religious and moral impact on their audience, offering timeless values and guidance to all who listen. With their passing we risk losing something of Morocco's national psyche and also part of the world's intangible heritage. Those who have seen the storytellers of Marrakech at first hand have witnessed something that is no longer part of this world, a treasure as precious as the planet's most endangered species and of immeasurable importance to humanity.

It's amazing how many images the world's photographers produce! Professional or not, images surround us in our everyday lives. What makes successful photographers stand out? What drives us to revisit the same images over and over? All images tell a story. Whether they're produced as works of art, on assignment for National Geographic, or as part of a family vacation, images say more than just a shutter speed, ISO, or aperture setting. We make images for a reason. Storytellers, by photographer/teacher Jerod Foster, focuses on visual storytelling and how a deep knowledge of your process and your personal vision can create stronger images. Storytelling often requires the use of certain lenses, apertures, or light modifiers, but the story is what holds everything together. To become a better storyteller you will explore: Composition, light, depth of field, and motion and how to properly use your camera technically to dig deeper. Visual themes and how they provide stories with interest and depth Types of shots and shooting styles and what they convey in your images Research and ways to conceptualize your story before shooting Strategies for developing your own effective storytelling workflow during and after the shoot. This beautifully written and illustrated guide will help you connect the how-tos of digital photography with the who, what, when, where and why of storytelling to bring your vision and your images to life!

This is the seed of The Storytellers' Journey, Joseph Daniel Sobol's history of the past thirty years of American storytelling. In this compelling examination of the contemporary search for myth, Sobol explores the social and psychological roots of the storytelling revival and the ever-resurgent power of the storyteller. Drawing on interviews with dozens of storytellers around the country, Sobol paints the revival as part of a larger process of cultural revitalization. He traces the growth of the preeminent revival organization, the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS), and details the individual passions, the organizational politics, and the economic, social, and mythic forces that have combined to transform a ragtag assemblage of enthusiasts into a national and international network of arts professionals. A seemingly chance encounter between a restlessly ambitious high school teacher and a coonhunting tale on the car radio sets off a chain of inspirations that changes the face of a small southern town, touches lives across America, and revitalizes a homely but treasured art form.

Parker's problems with alcohol have led to yet another unfortunate incident and it seems there is no escaping this one. He finds solace in a green door and tripping through, Parker finds himself in the world of the Sad Storytellers Club. Once a month the group meets to share short stories they have written about the hardships in each of their lives. Young and old, they all carry with them the burdens life too often bestows. Parker finds comfort within the group, but feels that his life is not sad enough to maintain a spot in the Sad Storytellers Club. He spins his own story, deceiving the group. When disaster strikes the green-doored building, Parker is entrusted with the confusing Natasha, a strange cat, and a notebook full of others' secrets. Parker is then met with a decision; does he risk his new friends, a girl he is falling for, and the healing that came with the Storytellers, or does he make a name for himself and finally become someone his parents will be proud of?

It is 1876 America. Ulysses S. Grant is completing his second term as president, the Civil War has been over for eleven years, and Sitting Bull’s Lakota have just defeated Custer’s seventh calvary. But now as rumors begin circulating about a mystical being that is stalking the moonlit skeletons on the battlefield, the US Army begins developing a plan to investigate. A year later, the army dispatches an expedition to return to the Little Bighorn to retrieve the remains of the officers and unearth the alleged mystery behind the rumors. Accompanying the soldiers is a thirty-one-year-old undercover private investigator tasked with interviewing any and all witnesses to Custer’s movements and the subsequent battle along the banks of the Little Bighorn. As DelCol searches for men to interview who he hopes will answer all his questions, he is led down a fascinating path into the history of one of the most famous battles of all time—and eventually to a destiny he never could have imagined. The Storytellers is the tale of a private investigator’s odyssey as he rides along with the US Army in 1877 to investigate the mysteries surrounding the battle of the Little Bighorn.

Community journalism in the era of clickbait An incisive and firsthand look at the landscape of community news today, Lost Storytellers argues that the decline of local journalism threatens the future of democracy. Award-winning photojournalist John Pendygraft asks: How did Americans lose trust in the media, and how can their local newsrooms earn it back? Pendygraft uses his own experiences at Florida’s largest newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times, to illustrate why trusted local reporting matters more than ever in the era of “fake news,” clickbait, conspiracy theories, and social media. Through interviews with his colleagues, the history of his own paper, journeys into the evolutionary psychology of storytelling, and examples of the ways multinational media conglomerates hook readers on news cycles of chaos and crisis, Pendygraft argues that community journalists can reclaim their roles as local storytellers—and that the public good demands that they try. Lost Storytellers offers insights for all who feel confused about the media, politics, and the well-being of their communities in the information age.

At home, amid rituals, and in the company of Gurus, Hindu teachings are largely conveyed through stories. Storytellers, Saints, and Scoundrels focuses on the folk narratives related with zest and humor by one old Swamiji to the varie groups that gather during the darshan hours. Kirin Narayan brings the tools of anthropology, folklore and literary criticism to bear on these tales and asks: them such a compelling vehicle for religious teachings? The stories reproduced here reveal the varied faces of the ascetic in the Hindu imagination: potentially a wise saint, he may well be a scoundrel intent on duping disciples.

This book advances social scientific interest in a field long dominated by the humanities: stories, and storytelling. Stories are a whole lot more than entertainment; oral narratives, novels, films and immersive video games all form part of the sociocultural discourses which we are enmeshed in, and use to co-construct our beliefs about the world around us. Young children use them to learn about the world beyond their immediate sensory experience and, even in an era of interactive electronic media, the bedtime story remains a cherished part of most children’s daily routine. Storytelling is thus the first abstract formal learning method we encounter as human beings. It is also probably transcultural; perhaps even an immanent part of the human condition. Narratives are, at heart, sequences of events and presuppose and reinforce particular cause-and-effect relationships. Inevitably, they also construct unconscious biases, prejudices, and discriminatory attitudes. Storying (a term we use in this book to encompass stories, storytellers and storytelling) is complex, and this book seeks to make sense of it.

Storytelling is alive and well in Texas! Let storyteller and biographer Jim Gramon give you a personal introduction to some of his legendary storytelling friends.