What story have you told today? Over breakfast or on the ride to work? To a friend on the phone? All stories are born in familiar settings, to unassuming circumstances and locations. To the storytellers who took the stage in April at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia, and to the listeners (and storytellers) who sat in the audience, the stories they shared were important, vital to understanding their lives and ours, as well. The average, run-of-the-mill events which never seem to give us pause, but at the end of the day, changed us. In fact, aren’t we all storytellers? When we tuck our child in bed at night, what is the request that calms her before she closes her eyes to sleep?
For the second year, Young Harris College assembled world-class artists and invited the community to come listen. After all, who doesn’t love a good story? And if you can laugh, cry, learn—all at the same time, then why not.
“Storytelling isn’t just something that people do,” says Lawrence, associate English professor and festival co-director. “It’s who we are. Telling and receiving stories bonds people together, whether at home, at school, at work or at festivals.”
For co-directors Lawrence and Ruth Looper, this is something great. Storytelling is a fundamental part of Appalachian culture, believes Lawrence, and an art form that is “deeply entrenched in rural mountain areas.”
And our culture has many roots confirms Looper. “…strong connections amongst the cultures of Ireland, Scotland and Appalachia. High numbers of Scots-Irish immigrated to this region in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, bringing their ‘word-hoard,’ their highly valued traditions of storytelling and music with them.” One of Looper’s delights of the festival: “watching Lyn Ford transform a group of skeptical, I-will-not-wave-my-hands-in-the-air college students into laughing, unselfconscious participants.”
It doesn’t take much to fall in love with a story, nor does it take much for us to see ourselves within another’s story. And if you’re invited to take the stage and share your story, have one in mind. You never know when you’ll be called upon. Ruth Looper is ready; she has The Story of Oatmeal “that I’ll burst into when the time is right.”
For the entire story as well as images from the festival, keep reading.
Judy and Len Garrison are at home in Farmington, Georgia, just on the outskirts of Dawg country – better known as Athens. Len, an IT manager and photographer, and Judy, an editor, author and travel writer, invite you to travel along with them as they explore the best of the South. Email them at seeingsouthern@gmail.com. Visit their website at Seeing Southern, and follow them on Twitter at @judyhgarrison, @seeing_southern, LIKE them on Facebook and on Instagram.
