Heather Forest

Heather Forest’s imaginative storytelling programs feature musical folktales from around the world, sung and told with lively audience participation, colorful characters, and original folk music. Her lyrical, minstrel style of storytelling interweaves original music, poetry, prose, and the sung and spoken word. From comedy to drama, vivid tales of enchantment and adventure come to life in the imagination as Heather masterfully spins her repertoire of World Tales. Homespun wisdom abounds in these old tales that span time and place and yet celebrate the commonality of human experience.

Robert Greygrass

Robert  Greygrass grew up in Hayward, Calif., far from his mother's Lakota and Cherokee roots. He has experienced many of the problems facing urban Indians. As a young adult seeking a better way of life, he started to explore his Lakota heritage. What followed were years of traditional spiritual practices; listening to the Elders, learning the language, history, and stories; and activism with the American Indian Cultural Center. Robert’s career has included stage acting with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and touring his one man show Walking on Turtle Island internationally.

For more on Robert Greygrass, visit his Web site at www.greygrass.org.

Beth Horner

Beth Horner is a nationally acclaimed story artist who came to the art of storytelling naturally. She was raised in Columbia, Mo., by a grandmother who told her fairy tales learned from library books, an English professor mother who introduced her to literature and poetry, a sister who starred her in farmyard musical productions, and a farmer/meteorologist father who regaled her with stories of her ancestors—of both good and questionable repute! Beth is noted for her vivacious stage presence, comic sensibility and warm, energetic style.

Baba Jamal Koram

Baba Jamal Koram is a storyteller in the African–American griotic traditions, a dedicated practitioner and teacher of the spoken word traditions, and a respected leader in the world of storytelling. Baba Jamal is a groundbreaking storyteller, educator, folk drummer, and organizer. Called a storyteller’s storyteller and a griot's griot, he travels across the nation sharing his stories with thousands of school children and their families. This master storyteller uses his stories to inspire, to encourage, and to uplift the positive growth of our children and in our communities.

For more on Baba Jamal Koram, visit his Web site at www.babajamalkoram.com.

Franky Ramont

Franky Ramont is a true lady of the renaissance who passionately performs a wide variety of genres—from children’s literature, including comedy and classic folktales, to creative and improvised stories for audiences of all ages in American Sign Language. On the theatrical stage, her credits include performances in autobiographical shows and one-woman lyrical, poetic, and comedic shows. A passionate filmmaker, Franky has also teamed with organizations to produce DVDs as a way to raise funds for their causes.

The Storycrafters

Jeri Burns and Barry Marshall are The Storycrafters. Their natural, energetic style has been featured in major festivals, school, and libraries in the United States and abroad. With awards from Parents Choice, The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, and Storytelling World, they specialize in original retellings and modern renditions of world folklore, integrating music and song, poignancy and pizzazz. Publishers’ Weekly describes them as “top-notch family entertainment;” their son would say, “Oh, that’s just Mommy and Daddy!”

Ken Wolfe

Ken Wolfe has long been telling tales, fake realities, and outright prevarications to his semi-captive audiences.  Ken’s outlandishly whimsical narratives, peppered with sound effects and almost-accurate dialects, have amused his middle school scholars by the thousands for nearly 17 generations of graduates. Ken has also performed his narrative lies for both the gullible and the skeptical in museums, camps, churches, cemeteries, caves, businesses, and homes.  All Ken’s stories are completely true, by the way; at least as far as you know. Honest.