Z is for a Zillion Other Stories

By the time this post automatically appears, I'll be at the Northlands Storytelling Conference, presenting my workshop on diversity and representation for storytellers!

Thank you SO MUCH for visiting this month, leaving amazing comments, and contributing stories to the list! I hope that these 26 posts will become a starting point and resource for storytellers, as well as writers, teachers, parents, and other wonderful people working with story.

As I said at the beginning of the Challenge: These stories are merely a taste. I was looking at what is there, in tradition, to prove that "it has always been this way" is not a good enough excuse to not include certain groups of people, identities, or perspectives in our line of work - because what "has been there" is often misrepresented, glossed over, or not talked about enough. I also wanted to offer help for storytellers who are invested and interested in diversity, but also have a soft spot for fairy tales, folktales, and other old stories. You can have both, and tell it too!

I encourage everyone to pay attention to representation and diversity. We need diverse stories. We need diverse voices. We need diverse characters. Folktales, personal stories, or movies - we need to pay more attention to who is being included, who is being excluded, and how people are portrayed. Don't settle for the stereotypes. Don't settle for the same 5-10 "canon" fairy tales. Keep exploring. Keep asking. Keep reading. Keep telling.

And, most importantly: Keep creating new stories, to fill in the gaps!

See you next week (May 9th) for the Reflections post! In the meantime, feel free to:

Check out my book on traditional stories and superpowers! It contains 55 amazing tales featuring 61 superpowers :)

Follow me on Twitter!

Check out this IndieGoGo campaign from a Peruvian storytelling festival that wants to invite me to perform! Perks include Peruvian and Hungarian folktales, postcards, and more!

Thank you all for an amazing A to Z!