Several Hours for Celebrating

Join The Story Center as we recognize the participants who have earned their storytelling certificate.

Since 2018, The Story Center’s Storytelling Certificate Program, a series of twelve free public programs, has helped people identify, create, and share written or oral stories. Participants receive a certificate of merit at the annual celebration event on the first Saturday of December. They are encouraged to read or tell an original story they created as a capstone project. The event is an occasion for graduates to share their voices, for others to recognize the graduates’ dedication, and for everyone to build a community of storytellers. 

Preparing for this year’s celebration, I remembered a similar event several years ago. It was the first to involve both in-person and virtual participants. One writer, attending in person, had created a narrative about her grandfather, a lawman in western Kansas during the early twentieth century. Another writer, attending virtually, read an excerpt from her memoir about being a young Muslim woman and immigrant from West Africa living in New York City in the early twenty-first century.  

Not surprisingly, the virtual and in-person audience responded positively to both stories. Many of the graduates had participated in programs together. A cohort had developed, and participants knew each other’s stories. Many audience members had completed the Certificate Program in previous years and were attending to support other storytellers. 

How, then, did this seemingly rare occasion of people representing a range of backgrounds, experiences, and locations connecting in person and online as creators and recipients of original stories in a public space, free of charge, for several hours, come together?

One factor is a core assumption that the people who participate, in whatever ways, bring with them to the event: stories matter. As a particular way of communicating, stories possess a kind of power that other forms of communication do not. This power can cut at least two ways: driving people apart or forging connections between them. Whatever the case, how a story functions can depend on the honesty, openness, and courage of the tellers, listeners, writers, and readers.  

People participate in the December event to tell their stories, of course, but they also have a genuine interest in engaging with the stories of others. After all, there are many interpretations of what is meaningful about the human experience, and people have the right to share their experiences as stories. Paying attention to the stories of others can be an act of respect, an opportunity to change, and an effort to understand our individual and collective experiences. 

Interested in celebrating some original stories created by dedicated storytellers? Check out the seventh annual Storytelling Certificate Celebration on Saturday, December 7, at the Auditorium at Woodneath Library Center.

--Mark Livengood
Story Center Director