Bringing oral storytelling to all
Utah Storytelling GuildThis nonprofit organization’s goal is to nurture, foster, and promote the art form and practice of storytelling; and to serve and nurture oral storytellers.
Getting Involved
Embrace the Power of Storytelling
Telling
Truth, naked and cold, had been turned away from every door in the village. Her nakedness frightened the people. When Story found her she was huddled in a corner, shivering and hungry. Taking pity on her, Story gathered her up and took her home. There she dressed Truth with folktales, fairytales, myths and legends. Now clothed in story, Truth knocked again at the villagers’ doors and was readily welcomed into people’s houses. They invited her to eat at their table and warm herself by their fire.
Listening
When you tell a story that touches me you give me the gift of human attention. The kind that connects me to you, that touches my heart and makes me feel more alive. When I have lost my way and I am wandering in the wilderness, it is stories that lights the way home. Stories are our universal storehouse of knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes, passions, dreams, imagination, and vision. I need your story to remind me of who I am and where I belong.
What we do
Our Guild Services
Creating Community
The most powerful narcotic in the world is the promise of belonging. To be acknowledged and seen. We see you and want to hear your stories. We are supportive and encouraging.
Coaching & Collaborating
Our guild meetings are a place to learn how to tell and to have a safe place to practice your stories. Audience reactions are a critical part of developing a story. We are a practiced and sympathetic audience.
Concerts & Festivals
Are you looking for a storyteller for a community event, get a hold of us and we will help you find a good fit. We host a house, library, and other concerts that give our guild members opportunities to practice their stories. We also inform our members of festivals, auditions, and other opportunities to use your telling talents.
Commissioned Work
The Guild is a great place to look for someone to craft a story tailored for your event. We have worked with organizations like Better Days 2020, Story Map Utah and countless school districts creating curriculum catered to their individual needs.
Book
A Storyteller for . . .
SCHOOL & LIBRARIES
Assemblies
Classroom Residency
Historical Curriculum
Community Festivals
Art Festival
Renaissance Festival
City Historical Days
Themed Events
Better Days 2020 – Suffrage
Pioneer Days
Ghost Tours
Museums & Gardens
This is the Place
Thanksgiving Gardens
Red Butte Gardens
Corporate
Team Building
Branding
Conferences & Keynotes
Roots Tech
Mt. West Arts
Holiday Gatherings
Romantic, Patriotic
Halloween, Christmas
House Concerts
Family Reunion
Fantasy/Superhero Party
Our Chapters
Bridgerland
Bridgerland covers Logan, Brigham City, Bear Lake, and southern Idaho.
We meet the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 am in the Old Ephraim Room of the Logan Library at 255 N. Main Street.
Farmington
Davis County is the home of the Farmington Bay Chapter.
We meet every 3rd Thursday, 7:00 pm, at the Kaysville Library at 215 N. Fairfield Rd., Kaysville.
Timp Tellers
Utah County is the home of the Timp Tellers Chapter
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This chapter meets every 1st Thursday, 7:00 pm, at the Orem Public Library at 58 N. State St., Orem.
Virtual
This is a new chapter that everyone is welcome to attend. We meet via Zoom on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7 pm.
Ben Lomond
Weber County is the home of the Ben Lomond Chapter.
We meet every 2nd Wednesday, 7:00 pm, at the Southwest Branch Library (Roy) at 239 W. 4000 S., Roy, UT.
Olympus
Salt Lake County is the home of the Olympus Chapter.
We meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 7:00-8:30 pm, at the Millcreek Library, 2266 Evergreen Avenue (3435 South 2266 East).
Dixie
Southern Utah is the home of the Dixie Chapter.
We do not meet monthly. We meet as needed and are actively involved with community events to promote the art of storytelling.
What Drives Us
Our Mission
Our mission is to keep the oral tradition of storytelling alive and exciting by helping to train performance, business and family storytellers.
We think in story. It’s hard wired in our brain. It is how we make strategic sense of the otherwise overwhelming world around us.
Storytelling is a necessary art for our times. Though we have invented amazing technology for saving data, we are at risk of forgetting our personal, family and cultural stories. Often that data though saved is not absorbed or shared. When you listen to a well-crafted story, it lives in your memory ready to share the wisdom when needed.
“If you want to study another culture, what better way than to hear it through stories.” Syd Lieberman
The well-told story has the ability to invoke discussions, and it is those discussions that can become a tool to mending broken worlds.
Storytelling has the power to influence.
Story is the language of experience. Stories allow us to simulate intense experiences without having to live through them.
Story evolved as a way to explore our own mind and the minds of others, as a sort of dress rehearsal for the future.
Get Involved
Learning our own stories and the stories of other cultures has the capacity of helping to anchor our identity, preserve our family and community histories and heritages and build intercultural bridges.
Upcoming Events
Sept 10-12 Timpanogos storytelling festival
Timpanogos Storytelling Festival Goes Virtual!
If you haven’t been able to attend the world-renowned Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in the past, now’s your chance! See details at: https://timpfest.org/
Sept 25 - New Member Orientation
10am – 12pm Come and learn what new opportunities and events await you as a new member of our Guild!