2010 Featured Tellers & Performers

Internationally acclaimed Joel Ben Izzy gathers and tells traditional and contemporary tales all over the world. Also, he coaches and teaches story-skills to business personnel, in high-tech, film, banking, advertising, medicine, and law. For instance, he leads storytelling workshops for nearly 1,000 new HP consultants as part of the company's "Wisdom Dissemination" Project. He teaches how to craft appropriate analogies, tell stories to convey a vision, and use anecdotes to communicate more effectively with clients.

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Anne Penfound

A native of the British Isles, Anne Penfound inspires inquiry and exploration as she shares world folk tales from the oral tradition, including African, Native American, Irish, Japanese, English tales. Audiences are invited to participate in the telling of these delightfully sweet and sour stories, which communicate history, diverse culture and life's lessons. Modeling aspects of verbal communication such as voice, volume, enunciation and inflection, Anne guides students in evaluating and analyzing verbal and nonverbal messages. "Smell the delicious spices from the island of Barbados where I spent my early childhood. Imagine the call of the wild Haggis in the hills of Scotland where I brought up my own children – combine them together, add a folktale or two, stir in a tall tale, sprinkle with a dash of fun and you have the recipe for my storytelling . . .”

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Through words that flow like a grand river and images that take you to the heights of fancy, award-winning storyteller Regi Carpenter captures your imagination with a whisper, a roar, or a song. With a "voice that dances," Regi has the astonishing ability to whisk you away to the place where dreams are born. One of her specialties is “Telling the Family Tree” - tales and accompanying workshops for adults searching for meaning and self, delving deeply into stories we craft from world tales or our own lives. Also, she has used story in hospital programs with cancer patients.

Regi Carpenter is a certified teacher and one of the nation's leading storytellers. She has been featured at schools, libraries, museums, festivals, and family and community venues since 1993.

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Bob Sterry, humorist, poet, and singer, is returning by popular demand as emcee of Bawdy Tales. His own style is cabaret with Broadway and the English music hall grinning in the wings, with a nod to the Classical style. He often contributes mime, and the rare but unmistakable tones of the nose flute.

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