Folkheart Press Media

We Publish Books About Folktales & More

2008-09-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

Want to keep up with Storytellers?

2008-08-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

I've just come across this great website: http://talkstories.com/category/storytelling/
It lists a variety of storytelling activities, such as "Liars And Storytellers To Swarm Upon Gettysburg, Pennsylvania".
The field has really opened up in recent years. So many folktales, so much variety!
Give a holler if you've got something cooking, too!
Best, Karen

2008-04-28T16:51:00.001-07:00

Origins of Folk Literature

Until about 4000 B.C. all literature was oral; but, beginning in the years between 4000 and 3000 B.C., writing developed both in Egypt and in the Mesopotamian civilization at Sumeria. From that time on there are records not only of practical matters such as law and business but increasingly of written literature. As the area in which the habitual use of writing extended over Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean lands and eventually over much of the whole world, a rapid growth in the composition of written literature occurred, so that in certain parts of the world, literature in writing to a large extent become the normal form of expression for storytellers and poets.

Nevertheless, during all the centuries in which the world has learned to use writing, there has existed, side by side with the growing written record, a large and important activity carried on by those actually unlettered, and those not much accustomed to reading and writing.

Origins and development

Of the origins of folk literature, as of the origins of human language, there is no way of knowing. None of the literature available today is primitive in any sense, and only the present-day results can be observed of practices extending over many thousands of years. Speculations therefore can only concern such human needs as may give rise to oral literature, not to its ultimate origin.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Folktales: From Now Until Eternity

2008-04-21T14:55:00.001-07:00

I was just thinking of a world without folktales and realized that would be impossible to imagine! I mean, folktales tell stories and who doesn't tell a story now and then about something they or someone they know did, even if its just to prove a point or to say "yeah, me, too"?
So as long as people are remembering, talking, and writing, there will be folktales. And that's actually comforting, isn't it?
Let me know what you think the world would be like without them.
Best, Karen

What Fun! Family Storytelling...

2008-04-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Sounds like the Rocky Mountains Storytellers are onto something!!! Their upcoming 33rd annual conference sounds like an extraordinary opportunity for people to gather together and share the stories that are theirs to tell.
Weaving together traditional oral tales with performance, art, and music with educational segments that explore how to use folktales, myths and more to address specific issues, this event promises to be out of this world!!!!!
If you've got the time and the inclination to see what Denver looks like this time of year, check out this link to the conference: (http://denver.yourhub.com/Lafayette/Stories/Entertainment/Music/Story~450136.aspx) . You can also visit http://www.rmstory.org. or call 720-329-0869.
Here's a snippet of the article I came across on yourhub.com:
The 33rd Annual Rocky Mountain Storytellers Conference To Be Held April 25th-26th in Broomfield The Rocky Mountain Storytellers Conference (RMSC) will present its 33rd annual conference on Friday and Saturday, April 25th-26th at the Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road, Broomfield, Colorado. This two-day annual event brings together local and national storytellers in the Rocky Mountain region's most prestigious showcase of master storytellers. This year's theme is "Story Garden: From Seeds to Blossoms."

Brer Rabbit, Bugs Bunny and a 75 Foot Mural

2008-01-29T17:09:00.001-08:00

Artist Ron Schiding created a 75 foot mural for the York Pennsylvania Martin Library that celebrates folktales. The project, designed to honor a couple who made outstanding contributions to the library and the children it served, is a series of folktale panels (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PkO8VGvGlFI) that reflect well-known and not so well-known folktales. What is so fascinating about this is what the artist had to say about his folktale choices.
In doing research for the project he realized that folktale themes were universal. Brer Rabbit was also Bugs Bunny (such an American icon) and that cultures that did not share customs, language, or commerce, shared common folktale themes...
This is amazing. Not the discovery; it's not new. What's inspiring is that folktale themes (motifs) are universal and we know from the study of powerful and well-crafted literature as well as decidedly strongly told movies that the universal is what we all relate to. This is what touches us. Our common story. A heartache is a heartache anywhere, and a tricky rabbit outwitting a farmer is loved the world over!

What Folktales Tell Us

2008-01-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

From the GIAC News blog (Garden Island Arts Council) gardenislandarts.org

WHEN: January 25 & 26, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
WHAT: Island School’s Middle School theatre program presents,“Folktales for Fun,” directed by Eric Devlin. A collection of severalfolktales from around the world demonstrate how similar people are.
WHERE: Island School Theatre
FEE: $3 at the door
CONTACT: Eric Devlin, 246-0233 ext. 271 or ericd@ischool.org

I came across this blog and was pleased to see that, once again, folktales make a point that all of us can get:
“Folktales that demonstrate how similar people are”.
There you go!
Folktales, like myths have shared themes, universal messages, that resonate on the individual, personal level. In fact, folktales are personalized accounts of what we hold to be true and important.
Reminds me of one of the first sentences I learned in a college course of Latin: “No novum sub sol” Roughly translated, it means there’s nothing new under sun.
So true for folktales (and all else, really). What we have created and enjoyed for centuries upon centuries is the creativity that can be applied to all storytelling themes. The ingenuity and uniqueness we bring to the characters, settings, and things we know and love (or don’t) is what makes folktales so interesting.
Much like literature with its standard 4 universal themes – man vs. man, man vs. himself, man vs. nature, man vs. society - folktales carry forward basic truths (that we all have some degree of relationship to romance, healing, magic, strength, character, humor, integrity, truth, beauty, compassion, and wisdom).
How great is that? Whether or not we see these themes as desirable is a matter of personal experience. And that's what is so fascinating about the many versions that can exist for each theme. We learn that we share so much with others, that through folktales our personal myriad versions of the common themes. Here is where our own personal reality reaches out and touches the outskirts of everyone else’s.
By virtue of that we find we are connected and have common ground; which is something to build understanding and tolerance upon.
So go tell someone a folktale, or better yet, write one down so that it can be passed onto others…

Living, Breathing, In the Moment Folk Heroine

2007-12-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

Folktales are so often about the past, about what has been. There's much to be learned from that (the past, that is). But there's much to be learned in the present moment as well and I think blogger caitlininsenegal.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-yaaye provides a perfect example of what a contemporary folktale is all about.
The writer has traveled across the world to be involved in Peace Corps related work. In the process she has developed special relationships with several members of the community where she lives. One of them is yaaye, an older woman who is, in many ways, a mother figure.
Caitlin writes about her; the grief she holds, the cultural taboos about , and more. Through this blogger's words we are introduced to a modern day folk heroine whose strength - even in the midst of loss and sorrow - becomes nourishment for those around her.
The writer also captures cultural elements, such as clothes, that tell us something more about this woman and the society she lives in. Through this the yaaye's values rise to the surface as do the values of the writer and, no surprise, they are not that different from one another.
This is one of the most prized hidden gems of folktales. Where ever and whenever they are told, they point to what we have in common: our humanity.

Calling Folktales!!!!!

2007-11-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

Folktales are one of the best ways there is to keep memories alive. It's how we connect to the past and preserve it for the future. And once you have a system down for recording them, you can create them in 20 minutes or so. Thinking that you just don't have time is a waste of time... time you could be spending on folktales.
So if you've written a short one or two (800 words) then send it my way to be considered for publication in FolkHeart Press' first e-newsletter (Spring 2008). Deadline is Jan. 31, 2008.
Speaking of FolkHeart Press: We did it! Our first book "Family Folktales; Write Your Own Family Stories" is now in print. The first run of this easy to use workbook is a limited edition.
FolkHeart Press has plans to print more books. For more information, visit www.folkheartpress.com

Granny Sue's News and Reviews: Off to Virginia

2007-11-17T08:02:00.000-08:00

This sounds like it will be fun. And it's proof that people love to listen to stories...Granny Sue's News and Reviews: Off to Virginia

Folktales Reflect Your Version

2007-11-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

Many people think that folktales, especially those about family members, have to be based upon details. Grandpa John did such and such on a specific date, etc. Well, that's all good and fine for biographies and geneaological accounts, but it doesn't fit the bill of folktales.
Folktales are stories about people, places, events, pets, even things (heirlooms) that we rememeber. In fact, they are based upon WHAT WE REMEMBER and memory is subjective. Sometimes we recall only certain aspects (mood, color, taste, select words or phases, feelings, shadows of images). And that's all right, especially where folktales are concerned.
Paul Bunyan was a big man. But who knows how big? To a child he was probably bigger than life and that's how he may have been remembered. And so it goes with what we recall. The day may not have actually been as stormy as it felt to you. Again, that's okay.
Folktales are about what we hold in our hearts and memory banks and that is exactly what gives them meaning and makes them precious and dear. PLUS THAT IS WHAT MAKES THEM SIGNIFICANT TO OTHERS; SOMETHING OTHERS CAN RELATE TO AND UNDERSTAND.
So let your memory go when it comes to chronicling folktales. Let the sun be as bright as you recall it being, let your Aunt Jane be as powerful as she appeared to you, your Uncle Sam as soft as he was the day he bent down and patted you on the head.
These are your takes on the people, places, and things that populate your life.

What Are Family Folktales?

2007-07-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

We all have memories we keep in our hearts about certain people (members of the family or the community in which we live), special places and events (specific holidays or a childhood home), and remembered things (particular objects and/or heirlooms). Each of these tells a story. They are pieces of family history we want to pass on to future generations.

But, we have become a mobile society that no longer uses oral tradition as a primary way to share these stories. Often we live far from relatives and no longer sit around the dinner table recounting how one ancestor or another performed a magnificent feat in a surprisingly simple or unexpected manner or tell the touching details of a special time, such as a wedding proposal or long overdue family reunion. We rarely have time to even chat on the phone with our children, grandchildren or great grandchildren about what we saw on a trip abroad or describe the family picnics that took place when we were young and everyone lived nearby.

However, we still want to pass on precious information about our families so that grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and beyond will know something special and significant about ourselves and our earlier family members, prized heirlooms, or unforgettable experiences in other places. And we want to accomplish this in as simple and direct way as possible.

How? We can write family folk tales. Here we can capture for all time short stories about what we know and remember without getting bogged down in the potentially cumbersome details of biography or other lengthy writing projects.
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Originally, folk tales were stories created by ordinary people to be passed on orally from generation to generation. Over time, thanks to the development of printing and the Internet, oral tradition is just one option available today. In fact, the oral tradition is rapidly being replaced by our ability to collect and store the information either electronically (blogs, websites) or in small books, including scrapbooks and workbooks/journals such as this one.

The difference between researching and recording accurate family histories and writing folk tales is that the folk teller (the writer) recounting folk tales can focus upon his or her own memories. Those legends rather than genealogy are the stuff of folk tales. That means you don’t have to have all of the facts, especially if they aren’t available, in order to capture important stories.

When you are writing your folk tales you can embellish the facts, fold in sensory details, add in rumors, characterize family members in traditional folktale images, and be more creative in your writing style.

Family folk tales can capture for all time the outstanding characteristics—rather than a roster of chronological details—of your family and community heroes and heroines, favorite pets, treasured heirlooms, or family vacations. These characteristics reflect universal human attributes, such as bravery, generosity, fear, or wisdom.

These excerpts are from Family Folktales: write Your Own Stories by Karen Pierce Gonzalez
This workbook for all ages was published this summer by FolkHeart Press.
For more information: www.folkheartpress.com