Annual Events


The Storytellers’ Guild of Anchorage

Annual Events

Halloween Storytelling

Free Halloween Storytelling:

“Not for the very young or faint of heart” (13+)

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Presented by the Anchorage Storytellers Guild

Date, time, and location TBA

Halloween Story Swap 2004 at Title Wave Books (Elisa Fleener, storyteller)

Tellabration! 2012: A Worldwide Storytelling Event

Saturday, November 19 (time and location TBA)

Part of an evening of storytelling on the same evening in over 300 locations under the umbrella of the National Storytelling Network.

Free admission; donations to the Storytellers’ Guild accepted.

Official Tellabration! 2005 proclamation from the Office of the Mayor of Anchorage

Linda Benson at Tellabration! 2010

Storytelling at the Anchorage Folk Festival 2012

Each January storytellers from the guild tell stories at the Anchorage Folk Festival– a free family-friendly event held at the Wende Williamson Auditorium at the University of Alaska campus (http://www.anchoragefolkfestival.org/).

Roger Fuson at the Anchorage Folk Festival 2011
Betty Arnett at the Anchorage Folk Festival 2011

Former Annual Events
Extreme Trail Tales: An Iditarod Event

Saturday, March 1, 2008

To celebrate the Iditarod, the Guild annually presents a storytelling program about dogs, mushers, and life on the trail. This year’s event will take place at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center at 605 West 4th, Suite 105, which is the Old Federal Building at 4th and “F.” This is right next to the staging area for the race start. Come with a legal id, as this building has a minimum security status. Your “carry-ons” will go through a screening device, as in the airport. Alaskan balladeer Mike Campbell will join the guild storytellers. Free admission.

Storytellers at “Extreme Trail Tales” 2007 at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center: Roger Fuson, Pam McDowell Saylor, Mike Campbell (balladeer), Anne Newell, Linda Benson, Betty Arnett, George Benson

Storytellers at “Extreme Trail Tales” 2006: Roger Fuson, Pam McDowell Saylor, Linda Benson, Mike Campbell (balladeer), Betty Arnett, Anne Newell

Storytellers at “Extreme Trail Tales” 2004: Linda Benson, Roger Fuson, Anne Newell, Betty Arnett, Mike Campbell (balladeer), Pam McDowell Saylor

Iditarod Start 2004

ACT’s House of Christmas Main Stage Production

The Guild joins Anchorage Community Theatre by presenting Winter Tales during ACT’s House of Christmas production. ACT will offer a one act play as well, entitled A Partridge in a Pear Tree. There will be a variety of stories evocative of the winter season.

Photo by Oliver Korshin

From opening night review by Mark Muro, Anchorage Daily News:

“Both Pam Saylor and Linda Benson are accomplished storytellers and bewitched Friday’s audience with their chosen tales.

“From Russia came Saylor’s ‘The Snow Maiden,’ a fairy tale that perfectly fits our unpredictable winter thaw. Telling a story replete with a bear, a wolf, a fox, and of course, an old witch who lives in the woods, Saylor delivered the piece with big energy, relishing each character’s attributes while maintaining the trajectory of the tale’s bittersweet theme.

“Linda Benson’s telling of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Happy Prince’ was a joy to behold. A poignant, lyrical story of self-sacrifice and compassion, Benson detailed the piece with delicate balance of dramatic intensity and gentle wisdom.

“The storytelling addition to the program was an unexpected treat that we don’t get often enough. Subsequent shows will feature different storytellers and different stories.”