PORT ANGELES — Four area storytellers will present their tales at Studium General on Thursday as a free preview that will kick off the annual Forest Storytelling Festival.
The 23rd annual festival by the Story People of Clallam County will come to the Little Theater at Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Friday through Sunday, bringing tellers from across the world.
Tickets are on sale now for the festival. A full weekend of events is $85. Events also are priced individually. Children younger than 10 will be admitted free, while children ages 10-18 and Peninsula College students with a current Student Activity Card will pay half-price for all storytelling events.
To purchase tickets, go to www.ClallamStoryPeople.org.
On Thursday, the college will offer a taste of what is to come by featuring the talents of local storytellers Pat Peterson, Pamela Blakeman, Akasha Atherton and Ingrid Nixon from 12:35 p.m. to 1:25 p.m. in the Little Theater.
Wearing sensible shoes, bun and bifocals, Peterson has journeyed for years discovering new tales and willing listeners. Personal stories and tales with a twist are among her favorites.
She tells to all ages in a variety of locations from festivals to classrooms, parks to the opening of a bagel shop.
“At the end, our souvenirs are friends made and stories shared,” Peterson said. “With each tale told, with every listener, comes the opportunity to entertain possibilities.”
Blakeman enjoys telling stories about people — and says most of them are mostly true.
This is her third year as part of Clallam Story People. Friends had told her she was a storyteller but it was not until she attended workshops at the festivals and the winter seminar that she realized there is a true craft to storytelling.
Her stories come mostly from family life, friendships and her 40 years as a nurse. She opened at last year’s festival and regularly tells Bible stories to children at church.
Atherton says she always struggled with knowing when to shut up.
As likely to talk during class as turn in a paper twice the assigned length, her teachers weren’t sure if she needed more encouragement or increased discipline.
To provide both, they preached the gospel of editing multiple drafts and, reluctantly, she acted as they bid. The result: a child with mountains of material, written and verbal, constantly looking for an audience on which to perfect it. Mixed reviews continue coming in.
Now, she listens a bit more and generally takes a moment to consider before speaking. She appreciates the power one lends another simply by listening to them and enjoys little else more than swapping stories.
Nixon is a world-traveling storyteller who whisks listeners away on journeys of the imagination. Exploration nail-biters, tall tales, traditional and personal stories — she tells them all on international expeditions and at venues around the country, including the National Storytelling Festival.
Her first CD, “Grimm’s with a Twist,” is a Storytelling World award winner. It offers deliciously dark stories spiced liberally with humor and pathos.
Her second recording, “Operation Bouncy Chair,” features personal stories about the important things in life: family, love and coffee.
She is a champion liar many times over, a claim that makes her mother both proud and worried. She holds a Masters in Storytelling from East Tennessee State University.
After living in Alaska for many years working as a National Park Service ranger, she currently hails from Washington state.
For more information contact Kate Reavey at kreavey@pencol.edu.
Pamela Blakeman
Pat Peterson
