Award-Winning Storyteller to Appear at NEC
Award-winning storyteller, Diane Edgecomb, is the keynote speaker for the 13th Annual Art and Essay Conference sponsored by the Friends of the New England College Library on Saturday, April 12 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The conference is free and open to the public and will be held in the Simon Center at 98 Bridge Street in Henniker.
Each year, the Art and Essay Conference celebrates the imagination and creativity of children from Henniker and the surrounding towns through writing and art. The theme of this year’s conference is “The World of Fairytales,” and will explore some of the symbols that can contain valuable lessons on life.
This year’s keynote speaker is Diane Edgecomb who will discuss stories from her recent book, A Fire In My Heart: A Storyteller’s Journey Among the Kurds. Edgecomb’s seven-year effort to preserve the vanishing Kurdish folklore has resulted in a collection of thirty-three stories describing the people, customs, and traditions of this rich culture. Her journey has taken her to mountain villages in Turkey where outsiders rarely travel and her book is the first of its kind in English.
Diane Edgecomb is the recipient of the Year’s Best Performance-Boston Herald, and a two-time winner of the Storytelling World Honor’s Award. Her appearances include the Three Apples Storytelling Festival, National Public Radio, WERS, WUMB, Charlestown Working Theatre, and Club Passim. She is a master storyteller and is an approved touring artist on the roster of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Publisher’s Weekly has described her as, “a virtuoso of the spoken word.”
Ms. Edgecomb will give a second presentation on Saturday, April 12 from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. in the Simon Center at 98 Bridge Street in Henniker. Also focused on her recent book of Kurdish stories, the presentation will be oriented to visitors of all ages. Sponsored by the General Education Curriculum at New England College, Ms. Edgecomb will share her experiences getting to know the Kurdish people and traveling throughout the region. The second presentation is also free and open to the public.
