Burning Brightly : New Light on Old Tales Told Today

“Kay Stone’s book is a bright light guiding us down the contemporary Canadian and American river of stories.” — Christina Cacchilega, University of Hawaii-Manoa

Burning Brightly is the first full-length book treatment of professional storytelling in North America today. For some years there has been a major storytelling revival throughout the continent, with hundreds of local groups and centres springing up, and with storytelling becoming an important part of the professional training for librarians.

In the book, Stone explores storytelling through storytellers themselves, while providing enlightening commentary from her own background as a storyteller. Included in her analysis are informative discussions of organized storytelling communities, individual tellers, and tales. Issues such as the modern recontextualization of old tales and the role of women in folktales are linked to individual storytelling accounts. Texts of eight stories that exemplify the approaches of the various storytellers are also included.

Burning Brightly will be compelling reading for storytellers—and for everyone who loves storytelling.