World by the Tale III: Mythic Beasts

World by the Tale III: Mythic Beasts

Wednesday, October 28th
7:30 pm NF (3:00pm PST, 6:00pm EST, 11:00pm UK)
Free | Live on YouTube!

We’ve Tales from Friends so far Away That Shorten the Divide, And Yarns that come from here at Home, with stories Far and Wide.

A virtual storytelling event series featuring tellers from Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, and the world.

——–

Cozy up, turn off all the lights, and get ready to be immersed in a world of Mythic Beasts! Frothy creatures rise out of the depths off the shores of Ireland; others slink out of the graveyards of the Brothers Grimm. From the waters, fields, and forests of Newfoundland emerge scaly pond-dwellers, gallumphing giants, and forlorn spirits that will raise the hair on the back of your neck.

Our host for the evening is folklorist, author and local legend Dale Jarvis (who is no stranger to things that go bump in the night). Joining him are renowned NL authors and storytellers Charis Cotter and Gary Green. From far away west in British Columbia comes award-winning storyteller Melanie Ray, and from across the Atlantic comes acclaimed storyteller Maria Gillen.

HOW TO WATCH?

Tune in to our YouTube channel at 7:30 local time on Wednesday, October 28th to enjoy these stories of all things spooky and strange. Subscribe to our channel here and you’ll receive a notification when the event begins!

About our Tellers

Charis Cotter

CHARIS COTTER grew up beside a cemetery and has been living with ghosts ever since. Her spooky, suspenseful novels, picture books and ghost story collections have won numerous awards and captivated readers of all ages. An actor and a storyteller, she has thrilled audiences across Canada and the U.S. with her spine-tingling performances of Newfoundland ghost stories. Her latest books are Screech! Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland and Footsteps in Bay de Verde: A Mysterious Tale.

Gary Green

GARY GREEN is a storyteller and author who has performed both inside and outside the province for a variety of groups ranging from youth camps to international conferences.   Among the groups for which he has performed are the Gros Morne Fall Fest, Cape St. Mary’s Performance Series, Battle Harbour Historic Trust, Canadian National Storytelling Conference, Admiralty House Museum, Labrador Creative Arts Festival, St. John’s Folk Festival and Trails, Tales and Tunes. Gary has performed on television as part of the series “Legends and Lore of the North Atlantic” and on several radio stations. He has performed in the international award winning productions “Inside Outside Battery” and “Foghorns and Heartbreak”.  Gary has been a consultant for the use of storytelling in the interpretation of the Battle Harbour National Historic Site, the Point Amour Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site and is very active in developing and delivering a story-based interpretation of The Crow’s Nest Officers’ Club National Historic Site.  He has been a board member of the St. John’s Storytelling Festival, and a founding board member of the Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation. Gary teaches storytelling at the annual Vinland Music Camp.

Maria Gillen

MARIA GILLEN has been exploring the Medicinal Story through her work as a Dramatherapist and Story Teller with Cork Yarnspinners.  She has collected many delightful tales and wisdoms from Cork based Community work.  Maria delivered workshops on the ‘medicinal story’ in Olomouc University in the Chez Republic and been a guest lecturer in UCC and NUIM. She co-developed a ‘Resilience Through the Creative Arts’ 12 week program using the exploration of story as a mechanism to contact and grow self-resilience. She is very interested in what the enduring myths and legends have to offer the modern world in terms of wisdom.

In 2018 and 2019 Maria featured as an emerging storyteller in the annual Cape Clear Storytelling festival.  In 2018 and 2019 she won the The Mick McCarthy All Ireland Storytelling competition in Finugue with her own original tales harvested from her work with the six part story and collecting local wisdoms through story. She was a featured teller at the annual Listowel Writers Week in 2017.   In 2017 she won the Butter Road Storytelling competition in Blarney with an original story about the Butter Roads.

Dale Jarvis

DALE GILBERT JARVIS is a storyteller and professional folklorist. By day, he is the provincial folklorist for Newfoundland and Labrador. By night, he is the proprietor of the St. John’s Haunted Hike ghost tour, and raconteur of local tales. Dale tells ghost stories, stories of the fairies and little people, tales of phantom ships and superstitions, and legends and traditional tales from Newfoundland, Labrador and beyond. His repertoire includes long-form folk and fairy tales, with a wide-ranging knowledge of local legends, tall tales, and myths.

Former newspaper columnist and author of several books on island folklore, he is a tireless promoter of local culture and oral history.

Melanie Ray

MELANIE RAY’s father told her stories when she was little, and then she told stories to her little sister.  When she grew up and had a baby, she told stories to her too.  When she found out how much fun it was to tell stories to grownups, she started up Wives’ Tales Story Tellers with Nan Gregory, and 5 years later went on to doing solo work.  There’s been a lot of travel across Canada, especially with the Medieval romance, Tristan and Iseult.  She also took that tragic love story to Wales and Vermont.  In 2011 she won the Story Keeper Award from the Storytellers of Canada, Conteurs du Canada, which finally satisfied her father, who worried his daughter wasn’t taking working life seriously.  But he started it!