Story by Story

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese American community was never the same again. Eventually, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind barbed wire in incarceration camps for the crime of looking like the enemy. 

In 2006, storyteller Anne Shimojima began work on a project to learn about her family’s experience of immigration and forced wartime relocation. It took months of questions and research to uncover the story of her grandparents’ journey to America, who would then lose their home and business, forced to live in assembly center horse stalls, and then behind barbed wire fences. In Hidden Memory: An American World War II Story, Anne illustrates her story with photographs from her family and the National Archives, showing a family’s journey of determination, perseverance, and strength. It is a true American story. Anne’s fee is donated to Densho, a nonprofit providing educational materials and recording oral histories of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Anne Shimojima, a retired school library media specialist, has been telling stories from her Asian heritage and around the world for forty years at festivals, schools, libraries, senior communities, museums, and lately, on Zoom. She was a New Voice Teller at the National Storytelling Festival in 2017 and has twice been a Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN. Other past venues include the Illinois Storytelling Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Conference, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Chicago History Museum, and the Hans Christian Andersen Statue in Central Park. Anne’s CD, Sakura Tales: Stories from Japan, won a Storytelling World Resource Honor Award in 2019.

In 2006 Anne created Hidden Memory: An American World War II Story about her Japanese American family’s immigration to the United States and through the incarceration camps of World War II. In 2019 she was invited by the government of Japan to tell her family’s story to three Tokyo high schools and in 2022 was decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays, conferred by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, for her work in promoting Japanese culture in the United States.

For more information on Anne Shimojima, visit https://www.anneshimojima.com/.

Dovie Thomason tells with elegance, wit, passion, sly humor and astonishing vocal transformations creating a climate with the audience where laughter, learning, and respect come together. Her love of stories began early, and she has spent a lifetime gathering and weaving the tales she heard as a child with stories from her own life into a passionate and compelling contemporary vision. Join Dovie as she shares her thoughts on contemporary life through her stories.

Dovie Thomason considers herself a river, fed by many streams: Lakota, Plains Apache and Scot Traveller ancestry, urban Chicago and rural Texas, the Internet and Indigenous elders, family teachings and university classrooms - and draws on those contrasts and cultures in her work. Conveying these stories respectfully and responsibly is Thomason’s calling and has made her one of the most respected and admired storytellers of her generation. When she adds personal stories and untold histories, the result is a contemporary narrative of Indigenous history and identity in North America told with elegance, wit, and passion. She has been featured at countless prominent global events, including the Kennedy Center, National Museum of the American Indian, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and festivals from Tennessee to Estonia, New Zealand to New Mexico. She is a recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence award and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers Traditional Storyteller Award.

Registration begins May 1.

Engaging audiences with call and response and song, Queen Nur presents rooted stories of connections to her childhood, tales honoring ancestors from the African continent to familiar Black traditions in America, a personal rendering celebrating her father, and humorous folktales. Stories are accompanied by international drummer and percussionist Dwight James on a variety of percussive instruments.

Queen Nur is a highly interactive international storyteller, folklorist, and award-winning teaching artist from Willingboro, New Jersey. Following the griotic tradition, her stories capture historical victories, celebrate folkloric traditions, and profoundly speak to the quintessence of humanity. For 30 years, she has toured in over 36 states, West Africa, and Canada at such events/venues as the opening of the Smithsonian's National African American Museum of Culture and History; a tour of Cameroon for the US Embassy, PANAFEST in Ghana; Equitable Tower Theater on Broadway; NJN Television; Toronto Street Festival; National Storytelling Festival; Dodge Poetry Festival; and many more. Queen was the Master of Ceremonies at the NEA 2019 National Heritage Fellows Concert in Washington, D.C. She has also performed as a featured artist at the National Association of Black Storytellers Festival and Conference and is a past president (14^th) of the organization. She is the recipient of the 2023 New Jersey Heritage Fellowship, 2020 Zora Neale Hurston Award from the National Association of Black Storytellers, 2018 Governor's Award in Arts Education, and the 2018 Artist of the Year for Young Audiences of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. Queen is also featured in Legendary Locals of Willingboro by Josh Bernstein, O Magazine (February 2018), and several anthologies.

For more information on Queen Nur, visit https://queennur.com/.

Registration begins June 1.

Hear compelling true stories when Nestor Gomez takes our Story by Story stage! Sometimes, he tells about his own experiences as a person new to the United States, about his adventures working as a ride sharing driver, or his family or work related experiences. Always, he tells with humility and humor, inviting us to consider the adventure of being human.

Nestor “the Boss” Gomez was born in Guatemala and traveled to Chicago undocumented in the mid-80’s. He told his first story at a Moth Story Slam to get over the stuttering that plagued his childhood. Since then, he has won more than 70 Moth Slams. Nestor has performed and conducted storytelling workshops in multiple locations around the country. He also created his own storytelling show, 80 Minutes Around the World, that features the stories of immigrants and refugees from different parts of the world, their descendants, and allies. 80 Minutes Around the World is also available as a podcast. Nestor also published a collection of stories detailing his experiences driving for ride sharing titled Your Driver Has Arrived. To listen and subscribe to the podcast, to buy his book, and to learn more about Nestor, visit his website at www.nestorgomezstoryteller.com.

Escucharas relatos emocionantes de la vida real, cuando Nestor Gomez tome el escenario en Story by Story. Algunas veces nos cuenta sobre sus experiencias viviendo en un lugar nuevo para el como lo fue Estados Unidos. Otras veces nos contara sobre sus aventuras trabajando como conductor de Viejas compartidos, o sus relaciones familiares o de trabajo. Siempre, contando sus relatos con humildad y humor, invitándonos a considerar la aventura de ser humano.

Nestor nacio en Guatemala y viajo a Chicago sin documentos a mediados de los 80. Nestor conto su primer relato en un evento de la Moth para poder vencer la tartamudez que atormendot su niñez, desde entonces a ganado mas de 70 competencias de la Moth. Sus relatos han sido transmitidos en programas de radio a nivel nacional. Nestor es el creador, director y anfitrion de su propio programa de relatos 80 minutos alrededor del mundo en que se relatan las historias de Immigrantes y refugiados de diferentes partes del mundo, ademas de los relatos de sus descendientes y aliados con el fin de proveer un major entendimineto de las realidades, luchas y sueños de la experiencia migratoria. 80 minutos alreadedor del mundo tambien esta disponible come Podcast. Para escuchar y subscribirse al programa y para aprender aun mas sobre Nestor por favor de visitar la pagina de internet www.nestorgomezstoryteller.com

Registration begins July 1.

Sue Roseberry uses storytelling to introduce some wonderful people that she knows to her audiences. With every tale she says, “Welcome to my world!”

Sue Roseberry (a.k.a. “Mama Sue”)  is a consummate artist, and her gifts are truly inspiring and illuminating.  She is recognized for her artistic ability and imaginative style. A graduate of the College of Santa Fe, she has a B.F.A. degree in performing arts. In addition to being Executive Director for the Midland Storytelling Festival, Sue is a master storyteller and has performed at the Exchange Place during the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee and other storytelling festivals throughout the country. Those fortunate enough to hear her come away with the feeling that they have been present for something beyond entertainment – it’s an experience.

For more information on Sue Roseberry, visit https://www.sueroseberry.com.

Registration begins August 1.

When storyteller Tim Ereneta opens a story with the words "once upon a time," he invites listeners into worlds that never were, but still resonate with our modern lives. The heroes and villains we encounter in blockbuster movies and streaming series might have stylish clothes and flashy gadgets, but these character types have been part of our entertainment for thousands of years. Join Tim as he shares his favorite traditional tales from Central Asia and Western Europe, bringing to life timeless adventures of clever fools and hopeless romantics in search of happily ever after.

Storyteller Tim Ereneta of Berkeley, California, connects ancient stories to modern day life, as he brings to life forgotten fairy tales for audiences of all ages—but especially adults. He's told stories on stages from Washington, DC, to Chennai, India, performing in theaters, art museums, camps, churches, nightclubs, as well as through digital screens. A former playwright and actor, Tim has been delighting audiences for more than three decades.

For more information on Tim Ereneta, visit www.timereneta.info.