ISSUED: 1 March 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Speak Story Series, a program of the Shepherd University Appalachian studies program, is hosting its first annual Appalachian Heritage Storyteller-in-Residence, Elizabeth Ellis, who will give a workshop on collecting and crafting family stories on Wednesday, March 21, 7-9 p.m. in the Student Center Cumberland Room. The workshop is open to the public at a cost of $40.
Ellis will also give the first Speak concert of the season on Tuesday, March 20, at 8 p.m. in Reynolds Hall. Admission is $12 at the door, with express entry for Speak season ticket holders, and free to Shepherd students with a valid Rambler ID. Please note the date and time change for this performance.
Ellis, who currently lives in Texas, grew up in the Appalachian Mountains in a family of storytellers. Her grandfather was a circuit-riding preacher and told stories he had collected in his travels, as well as those he had made up. Ellis’s aunt was a keeper of the old fairytales learned from her Irish immigrant grandmother.
Ellis is the first recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award from the Tejas Storytelling Association and the National Storytelling Network honored her in 1997 with the Circle of Excellence Award, which is given to those recognized nationally by their peers to be master storytellers.
To register for the workshop and learn more about Speak Story Series, visit https://www.speakstoryseries.com/.
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