Emily finally realized what connects her various work in veterinary medicine, classroom teaching, and magazine publishing—it’s communication, and it’s storytelling. So she recently completed her Master’s studying both at ETSU. She currently splits her time writing, researching, performing, crafting, medicating cats, baking for her loved ones, and hanging out with her partner in their cozy hometown of Johnson City, TN.
In 2016 when Betty Ann Polaha signed up to audit a storytelling class, she never dreamed that three years later she would have earned a storytelling certificate and would be named Outstanding Storyteller Performer at East Tennessee State University. Betty Ann was always a storyteller coming from a large family with lots of women who…
After many years of teaching elementary school,Evelyn Edwards was retired and needed something to do. She made a phone call and talked with Dr. Sobel at ETSU who gave her good advice and welcomed her to take a storytelling class. Thereafter, there was one storytelling class after another, and by 2020 she amassed the required…
Joy is a graduate of ETSU’s Storytelling Certificate Program. Life has brought her from the tenements of Manhattan, to the 11th floor of a housing project in The Bronx, to the north shore of Eastern Long Island, and (finally, inevitably) to both Jonesborough, TN. and Leesburg, FL. (her forever homes).Joy tells fairytales and folktales, reflecting themes…
Since 1990, Leticia’s storytelling has enlivened audiences and educators across the U.S. in classrooms, libraries, and at festivals, fairs and conferences. Being a professionally trained musician, she masterfully intertwines song and music into her storytelling. Leticia offers education-based programming in classroom based residencies, educator professional development, integration-based programming — all customized to fit your needs…
With a twinkle in her eye, Judy Donley describes her stories as “practically true…at least in my mind!” She grew up in a large family of 12 children in Massachusetts who, with encouragement from their father, would share stories at the dinner table. “What did you learn today?” or “What did you do today that…
Kiesa Kay, poet and playwright, learned the art of storytelling from her mother, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers. She found fairy tales and creation myths in boxes of books from an auction. Her works have been performed in venues in seven states, including Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Berea College in Kentucky, and La Mama Experimental Theater in…
