Self Narrate, the Conch and Guts & Glory are organizations that put together monthly storytelling events in Gainesville. Because they all do such similar things in a town this size, Self Narrate’s director Brandon Telg said people often assume the three groups are in competition with one another. To Telg, Story Summit is a chance to prove that this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“We all want to see each other succeed, and we all believe in what each other is doing,” Telg said. “We all do this work because we care about the impact of stories and stories as a community builder.”
Every couple of months the director of each storytelling organization chooses two of their best storytellers to send to Heartwood Soundstage near downtown Gainesville for Story Summit. The first summit was in January of this year, and the second will take place on June 9, 2018 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“Story Summit is the best night of storytelling you’re going to see in Gainesville. Period,” Telg said.
The poster for Story Summit 2 was designed by “Barefoot Justine” Andersen, who shared a story of her own during the first Story Summit.
If you’re one of the many people in Gainesville who are familiar with the city’s storytelling community, this is all you need to know about Story Summit. But if you have no idea what adult storytelling even is, read on for more information before you reserve your tickets.
What is storytelling?
Taylor Williams, the director of Guts & Glory, said that when she first mentions storytelling to friends and family, the first images they conjure up is often of a group of people going to the public library to read books to adults, but that’s not at all what Guts & Glory does.
Storytelling for Williams is made up of people stepping on stage and simply sharing a story with an audience that’s willing to listen. The only requirements for Story Summit is that the story must be truthful and personal. It can be funny, sad, thought provoking, etc.
Katie Hyson is a storyteller who will be sharing a story at the event that she has never shared in public before. To her, storytelling is a way to connect with people in a way no other platform allows. She said you get to open yourself up to an audience that is giving you its undivided attention, which unleashes a kind of empathy you don’t get to see in everyday life.
“I would say to come expecting to be reminded of the magic of life and to laugh and cry, probably in equal measure,” she said. “But, more than anything, realize that you’re not alone.”
Storytelling is a way for people to share their stories, but it also offers people a way to hear other perspectives and connect with the lives of strangers.
In a city the size of Gainesville, you start to see the same faces over and over again, she said. Storytelling events offer a way to get to know those familiar faces who you might never have otherwise spoken to.
Here is an example of storytelling from the January Story Summit:
Why is storytelling so big in Gainesville?
The answer to this question really depends on who you ask. To Ann Christiano, a University of Florida professor who will also be sharing a story at Story Summit in June, Gainesville is a hotbed for storytelling because of its diverse community.
“When you have people from lots of different perspectives coming together, we transmit our culture and identity through stories,” she said. “So, it would make sense that in such a diverse community we would be sharing stories as a way of connecting with each other and sharing our own culture.”
Gail Johnson, the newly elected at-large city commissioner for Gainesville, telling the story of her trip to see Barrack Obama’s 2009 inauguration at Story Summit in January. (Photo by Charlotte Kesl)
Williams from Guts & Glory pens the popularity of storytelling to Gainesville’s openness. She said that in a town filled with so many different ideologies, ages and people in different phases of their lives, it might make sense for there to be clashing. But she sees the opposite happening thanks to the city’s residents being willing to talk and listen to one another.
For Hyson, she got into storytelling after seeing a flier for a show. Once she tried it, she said she was hooked.
“I passed a flyer for Guts & Glory, and I have this rule for myself that if anything scares me, even for a second, then I have to do it. And that sounded terrifying, so I signed myself up and it turned out to be my favorite thing ever,” she said.
What to expect from Story Summit:
First thing’s first, you can expect a jam-packed Heartwood Soundstage. Telg and Williams both said that the first Story Summit in January sold out. After the event, they said they were told by Heartwood that the event was the first time the stage had ever been sold out.
So Telg recommended you reserve your tickets ahead of time, which you can do here.
If you manage to get tickets, you’ll be treated to six stories from six different storytellers. More importantly is the fact that these are curated stories and storytellers, meaning you’re not going to see any first-timers stumbling their way through a story.
The six story tellers are chosen because they have interesting lives to share and curators know that they can share them well. The storytellers will even be meeting beforehand to run through their stories and give each other notes for improvement, Williams said. Nobody “wings it” on stage.
“I hesitate to call it a ‘best-of’ because I think there are a lot of organizations doing great things in Gainesville in the creative world, but Story Summit is just kind of the ultimate meeting of the minds on storytelling as it’s going in Gainesville now,” Williams said.
A sold-out Heartwood Soundstage audience watches on during the January Story Summit. (Photo by Charlotte Kesl)
Each story is expected to last around 10 to 15 minutes. Williams said that in some cases, storytellers now have the chance to expand on a story that they’ve told before with this extra time.
Stretching a five-minute-long story into 10 minutes gives speakers a chance to add more detail to the story and go further in depth.
Telg emphasized that if you are already involved in the storytelling scene here in Gainesville, you should’t be worried about hearing many repeat stories.
Even if you’ve been to every single storytelling event across Gainesville from all three organizations over the last year, there will still be something new for you to listen to.
If you are interested in Story Summit, tickets are now on sale, which you can find here. Pre-sale tickets are $15 and day-of tickets will be $20. The show will take place on June 9th from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Heartwood Soundstage.
