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The Storytellers and Hosts
photo by Rick West Archivist, folklorist, teacher, singer and storyteller, Anita Best is a true renaissance artist in the Newfoundland folk / traditional scene. She has recorded on numerous albums, and has two of her own – The Colour of Amber (with Pamela Morgan) and Crosshanded, an a capella recording of twelve traditional Newfoundland ballads. While it is her singing which has made her famous, she remains a much-sought-after storyteller and has toured extensively telling and singing. Anita Best was the host and writer of a local CBC radio series, A Little Ball of Yarn, in 1995-96 which celebrated storytelling, and for years she ran a local concert series that combined music, readings, recitations and storytelling. For some time now, she has been preparing the stories of her father-in-law Pius Power Sr., an acclaimed storyteller from Placentia Bay, for publication. Best is from Placentia Bay herself, and tells stories from that region and other regions of Newfoundland.
photo courtesy of Margaret Bennett A major figure in the modern Scottish revival, Margaret Bennett is storyteller, singer, writer and lecturer from the Isle of Skye. She comes from a long line of tradition-bearers. Fluent in Gaelic and Scots, she has performed from the Outer Hebrides to the Australian outback, and at such festivals as Glasgow Celtic Connections; Celtic Colours in Nova Scotia; Edinburgh International Festival; Pinewoods Folk Music Association; New York's Christmas Revels; and the Ottawa Multicultural Festival. She holds an honorary Research Fellowship at the University of Glasgow School of Scottish and Celtic Studies and teaches Folklore at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Bennett received the prestigious Michaelis-Jena Ratcliffe Folklore Prize in 1991 for her book The Last Stronghold: Scottish- Gaelic Traditions in Newfoundland. She will include tales from the Codroy Valley in her performance.
photo courtesy of Chris Brookes Chris Brookes is an award-winning independent radio producer whose documentary features are heard in the U.S.A, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, England, Sweden, Finland, Canada and The Netherlands. He has also produced documentaries for network television, and is a published author and playwright. He seems to be obsessed with narrative, which makes him keep telling stories in hopes of one day getting them right.
photo courtesy of Lorne Brown Lorne Brown can usually be found in some chimney corner, picking his 5-string banjo and singing an old ballad. When he can be pried from his corner you might find him performing with the Ballad Project or Four in Hand; acting as artist director for the Legless Stocking, an exciting new company combing various art forms with storytelling; or simply on his own. Lorne is one of the co-founders of The Storytellers School of Toronto. For twelve years he was the editor of Appleseed Quarterly, the Canadian Journal of Storytelling. He also used to edit The Canadian Folk Music Bulletin. He has performed in every Canadian province (except Newfoundland, until now!), and in the United States and Britain. He has appeared in major storytelling and folk festivals, as well as on radio and television. In his free time, he contemplates such questions as why his wild oats have turned into shredded wheat. With a special - some would say passionate - interest in Canadiana, Lorne has developed programs featuring traditional Canadian folksongs, Canadian folktales, and historical stories.
photo by Rick West Linda Slade Byrne was born in Kingwell, Placentia Bay. She began singing at a very young age. She has long had a keen interest in folk ballads and traditional unaccompanied songs. Many of Linda’s musical interests were greatly influenced by her mother, who had a substantial repertoire of songs. In the seventies, Linda moved to St. John’s where she contributed greatly to the early development of The Newfoundland Folk Festival and the St. John’s Folk Music Club. Over the past several years, Linda has performed folk ballads at various annual festivals around the province and is currently a regular at the monthly ballad session held at the Crow’s Nest pub in St. John’s. Linda will be singing at our final evening concert.
photo courtesy of Norma Cameron Writer and storyteller Norma Cameron draws on her childhood experiences growing up outside Glasgow to weave Scottish traditional stories with charming and often hilarious family tales. She has conducted workshops and performed at storytelling festivals in Canada, Scotland, England and Ireland. She has also written and performed a one-woman play, Coalmines, Council Houses and Corsets: The Life and Times of a Scottish Granny – adapted from her collection of stories based on her real-life Granny Jamieson. Norma currently lives in Deep Cove, British Columbia, and serves as the National Coordinator for Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada. In addition to performing at the festival, Norma will be teaching of the weekend storytelling workshops.
photo by Dale Jarvis Lewis Cranford first attended the St. John's Storytelling Circle in early 2005. That first visit awakened the storyteller in him and he has since participated regularly. He comes from a family of seven and was raised in Coley's Point (known long ago as Cold-East Point) near Bay Roberts. Particularly enjoying stories of Newfoundland and of the sea, and largely influenced by his hometown life and that of his parents in Placentia Bay and Trinity Bay, he has taken to writing and performing recitations and stories of times gone by. Lewis currently lives in "wonderful grand" St. John's and is employed as a telephone network technician with Aliant. He has one dependant, an engaging brown tabby named Maurice.
photo courtesy of Anne Farrell Anne Farrell has been a storyteller from childhood. She was raised in Glenmore, and now lives in Waterford, Ireland. She is also a writer of adult and children’s stories, a playwright for radio and stage, a researcher, a historian and one half of “Cuala Verbal Arts.” With her creative partner Liam Murphy, she leads storytelling and creative writing workshops. She has performed extensively in Ireland, Britain, Canada and the US.
photo courtesy of Tina Fisher Tina Fisher is a mother of two and a native of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Tina has been involved in family resource programs since 1998, first as a parent seeking the support of the programs, later as a volunteer and now as a worker in the field of family support. Tina is dedicated to the family resource movement. She works for Brighter Futures Coalition of St. John’s as a Program Coordinator, Daybreak Parent Child Centre as a Community Outreach Worker, and has been involved in the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program for the past six years. Tina takes pleasure in listening to and telling stories. She enjoys working closely with families and bridging the community together through stories, rhymes and songs.
photo courtesy of Lori Fritz Lori Fritz moved to St. John’s in 1990 and lives there with her two children, Sam and Isaac. She received her B. Ed. at the University of Toronto in Special Education and her M. Ed. at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Counselling and School Psychology. She has worked in the field of education since 1983 and has taught in Toronto, St. John’s, Barcelona and Alicante. Lori has worked with The Newfoundland and Labrador Parent-Child Mother Goose Program, an oral language play program for families with young children, since 1998. She led training workshops across the province which inspired a collection of Newfoundland and Labrador rhymes, songs and language games. Lori Fritz and Mary Fearon published this collection, Over The Big Fat Waves, and distributed it to schools, libraries and organizations working with families across the province. Lori has a strong commitment to supporting parent/child attachment and building strong communities through the exploration of language and the rich oral tradition of Newfoundland and Labrador.
photo by Dale Jarvis Gary Green has been telling stories for a number of years. He has told tales of the sea and local history to passengers aboard the schooner J&B, a tour boat operating mainly out of St. John's, NL and briefly out of Halifax, NS. Gary has performed at the Cape St. Mary's Festival and on television as part of the series Legends and Lore of the North Atlantic. He has presented to groups of children and seniors and is a valued contributor to the St. John's Storytelling Circle.
photo by Dale Jarvis A crowd favourite at the St. John’s Storytelling Circle, and star of the annual Recitation Night, Margaret Hitchens delights audiences with her renditions of classic English monologues and recitations, including the ongoing adventures of Albert Ramsbottom and Samuel Small. Margaret has been involved for many years with the Kittiwake Dance Theatre, and is the company’s annual choice to play the role of the Grandmother in their Christmas production of The Nutcracker.
photo by Shelagh O'Leary Dale Jarvis is a performer, researcher, writer and storyteller in St. John’s. As a storyteller, he has performed locally and at national and international storytelling festivals in Cape Breton, Montreal, Toronto and Whitehorse. He has also taught storytelling workshops from Red Bay, Labrador, to Calgary, Alberta. Since 1997, he has been spooking tourists and locals alike as host of the St. John’s Haunted Hike. The founder and driving force behind the St. John’s Storytelling Circle, Dale will host a late night session of ghost stories and murder ballads for the brave of heart in the historic Newman Wine Vaults, an eldritch spot close to his own (tell-tale) heart. Dale lives in an old yellow row-house in downtown St. John’s with a relatively helpful ghost.
photo courtesy of Andy Jones Actor, writer and director, Andy Jones is one of Newfoundland’s best-loved and most renowned performers. With the theatre collective SHEILA'S BRUSH, he worked to preserve, promote and adapt several Newfoundland tales, most notably Jack Meets the Cat, which was also an award-winning radio play. The script has been published in Dan Yashhinsky’s collection At the Edge: A Book of Risky Stories. He co-wrote with Philip Dinn Jack-Five-Oh, a storytelling play which marked the 50th anniversary of Newfoundland’s entry into Canadian confederation, and which continues to tour. An accomplished storyteller, in the more traditional sense, Jones has taken his work with local “Jack” tales into schools. In 2003, he and Dinn published Peg Bearskin, their adaptation of a traditional tale from Placentia Bay. We are delighted to have Andy take part in a special evening of “Jack” tales.
photo courtesy of Sara Meyer Although she is not yet sixteen, Sara Meyer already has years of performances under her belt. The daughter of renowned Newfoundland musican Dave Panting, Sara has been performing at local folk festivals, concerts and family shows for most of her life. She has performed in plays and films as well. Recently, Sara has been honing her talents as a storyteller. She is a treasured regular at the St. John’s Storytelling Circle, and we are delighted to have her host our Saturday morning children’s concert.
photo courtesy of Fergus O'Byrne Fergus O'Byrne is well known as a member of great bands like RYAN'S FANCY, TICKLE HARBOUR and CROWD OF BOLD SHAREMEN, as part of a duo with Jim Payne and another duo with Dermot O'Reilly, and as a solo performer.  A bastion of the local music scene and promoter of traditional music in Newfoundland for the past 35 years, Fergus has worked tirelessly as a guest teacher in Newfoundland classrooms, as a media liason and board member of the St. John's Folk Arts Council, and he deserves much of the credit for the YOUNG FOLK AT THE HALL workshops and concert, held annually during the winter. He is an accomplished player of the banjo, bodhran, guitar and concertina.  The Evening Telegram hails him as a "hard-driving balladeer with a voice the size and strength of an oak barrel
photo courtesy of Tommy Oliver Tommy Oliver is a fine example of the Newfoundland recitation tradition. Born in Old Perlican in 1960, he now he lives in Gull Island, just south of Burnt Point, in Conception Bay North. His father was a well-known performer of such classic recitations as The Face on the Bar Room Floor. He spent much time listening to the great Francis Colbert and the other tradition-bearers in the surrounding area. Tommy has retained many of the dialectal features of his birthplace and it is always a delight to hear him recite. Although he is known by everyone in the Conception Bay North area, this will be his first time performing in St. John's. His friend, Ray Johnson, renowned folk artist from Job's Cove and one of the “Other Fellas,” calls him "a Newfoundland treasure." We are especially proud to feature Tommy in our final evening concert this year
photo by Rick West Tobias and Gerard Pearson were born in Merasheen, Placentia Bay, to Aggie Wilson and Cecil Pearson. Their grandmother, Kate Wilson, was a powerful traditional singer who passed her songs to the boys and their mother. Tobias and Gerard also learned the old songs from their father, whose origins were in Petit Forte, Placentia Bay. The brothers have performed at various folk festivals in Newfoundland. As well, Tobias has performed at traditional music gatherings in Boston and New York. Gerard's lovely tenor voice and Tobias's sense of humour place them in high demand at folk festivals and ballad sessions. They will perform traditional murder ballads in a special late night session of murder ballads and ghost stories in the Newman Wine Vaults.
photo by Bruce Carmody Judith Poirier’s tales offer delight and wisdom with a twist of singularity. She has told stories to listeners of all ages and in both French and English. This Montrealer has toured festivals across Canada (Yukon, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec). She has in her répertoire folktales from her French-Canadian heritage, tales and wisdom tales from around the world and family tales. She is also the godmother of the Cercle des conteurs de Montréal, an organization she help to found in 1998. Judith will bring greetings from Jack’s Quebecois cousin Ti Jean as part of our night of Jack tales.
photo courtesy of Kelly Russell Multi-instrumentalist and storyteller, Kelly Russell has been performing professionally since 1975. He was an original member of such landmark groups as FIGGY DUFF and THE WONDERFUL GRAND BAND. He has worked closely for many years with legendary fiddlers Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit, learning, recording and documenting their unique music. He has also been active in reviving the art of storytelling and recitation; inspired by his late father, Ted Russell (creator of The Chronicles of Uncle Mose - Tales from Pigeon Inlet), Kelly performs at local events and festivals. A cultural ambassador, Kelly has performed in such countries as England, Ireland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Spain, the USA and many times across Canada. Kelly will be kicking off the Festival for us with an evening of tales, tunes and recitations. He will also host our night of tall tales.
photo courtesy of Elizabeth Zedel Elizabeth Zedel received a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Victoria in 1989. She moved to Newfoundland in 1991 and is a resident of St. John’s where she teaches voice and piano privately. Elizabeth has sung as a soloist with Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra in their 1996 production of Carmen as well as has been invited to sing with her hometown orchestra in B.C. She has been involved with a few small ensemble groups when in St. John’s, including an early music group and an accapela vocal quartet. A mother of two girls, Alida and Fernanda, Elizabeth has been involved with the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program for 2 years as a parent, with this last year as a leader apprentice. Elizabeth can see the benefits of the program with her own children first hand. Music, story and song taught in a family setting is a natural way to learn to enjoy and learn literacy skills.

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