Syracuse University's Hendricks Chapel will host the 9th Annual Sojourner Storytelling Conference on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
This year's theme is "Crossings," and five storytellers will tell ageless legends meant to move individuals toward understanding global communities. The conference will take place in the main chapel from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the University's visitor pay lots.
This year's storytellers are Betsy Nash, assistant to the dean of Hendricks Chapel; Anthony Grant, a sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences; Cynthia Lully, a graduate student in the School of Information Studies; Francis McMillan Parks, director of Students Offering Service and of African American Programs in Hendricks Chapel and founder of the storytelling conference; and Sonita Surratt, assistant to the assistant and associate chancellors in the Office of the Chancellor.
The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a welcome by Parks, who will share the story "The Quiltmaker's Gift" by Jeff Brumbeau.
Nash will tell the stories "The Girl Who Fooled the Giant," adapted from a story by Tamara Kitt, and "Why Does Popcorn Pop?" and "Brave as a Mountain Lion" by Ann Herbert Scott beginning at 11 a.m.
Grant will tell "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst, a story he enjoyed as a child, at noon. Following a break for lunch, Lully will tell stories beginning at 1 p.m.
At 2 p.m., Parks will share "The People Could Fly" by Virginia Hamilton, as well as stories by Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.
At 7 p.m., Surratt will present "Langston's Melodies," weaving the words of American poet, novelist and playwright Langston Hughes with music.
The event will also lift up the stories of the women of Vera House through an exhibit of "Survivors' Art."
This is the first Sojourner conference that Nash is participating in as a storyteller. She began telling stories as a preschool teacher before her children, now adults, were born; her storytelling skills were honed as she read to her children in their younger years. In more recent years, she has moved toward learning stories by heart and standing up in front of an audience to share them. Nash has done so within church settings, and she likes stories that have a dimension of spirit.
"I get excited about stories and want to share them," Nash says. "They are powerful and need to be told."
The Sojourner Storytelling Conference is sponsored by Students Offering Service (SOS) and African American Programs at Hendricks Chapel, The College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Syracuse University Bookstore and the Office of the Chancellor.
For more information, contact Rachael Gazdick at 443-1254 or ragazdic@syr.edu.
