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WinterTales
Featured Tellers


Andy Offutt Irwin is a native of Covington, Georgia. He started in comedy, but added music and storytelling because he has a lot to say. He tours the country, sharing his amusing, interactive songs and stories. When not touring, he is the Artist-in-Residence at Oxford College of Emory University.



Gay Ducey is a descendant of generations of Southern women who treasured spunk, independence, and a sassy mouth. She enjoys telling stories from a wide range of cultures and traditions. When not sharing her storytelling performances around the country, Gay is a children’s librarian at the Oakland Public Library and teaches storytelling at the University of California-Berkeley.



Baba Jamal Koram is a storyteller in the African-American Griotic Tradition. He is a groundbreaking storyteller, educator, folk drummer, and organizer who travels the nation to share his stories with thousands of children and families. Baba Jamal uses his stories to inspire, encourage, and uplift the positive growth of our children and our communities

Hi Everyone! Last week we held our 26th annual WinterTales Storytelling Festival. We started the festival on the previous Friday (Feb. 9th) with a concert by Tom Paxton. Then Thursday-Saturday of last week, we held several storytelling performances, workshops and outreach events. We brought in three nationally-renown storytellers: Gay Ducey from Oakland, California; Andy Irwin from Covington, Georgia and Baba Jamal Koram from New York. Each evening they did a general audience performance. Each of the three tellers had a "featured night" where they were given the final hour to perform, the other two would perform for about 15-20 minutes in the first half. Also, before each performance, we had pre-show music by local singer/songwriters.

During the day on Thursday they did outreach performances at schools, social agencies and businesses. Late night Thursday, after the general audience performance, we had a "Story Slam", basically an open mike event for amateur storytellers. Janae' got up and told a hilarious story about getting stuck under our bed while trying to get our chihuahua "Bella" out from under the bed.

During the day on Friday, the three featured tellers conducted workshops about different aspects of storytelling. Late night Friday, the three featured tellers told ghost stories up in the lounge area of the theater called the "Cabaret".

On Saturday morning we had more workshops and at 2:00 p.m. we had a children's matinee. We also had an event over at the State History Museum that included Oklahoma stories told by local tellers, followed by a tour of the museum. Finally, after the final performance on Saturday night, we had a reception up in the Cabaret for the three tellers and the general public.

It was a very tiring, demanding week, but everything went very smoothly and those attended were very complimentary about the event. Now we have to turn around and get ready for our big outdoor Festival of the Arts.