Reviewed By: Becky Young
National Storytelling Network
http://www.storynet.org/
National Storytelling Network is a member driven organization with a board of directors that is elected by the members from six regions in the United States. Devoted to improving storytelling on local, state and national level, the NSN has publications, services and educational opportunities for those interested in storytelling. It publishes Storytelling Magazine and provides an online calendar of events and a directory of its members. Supported by membership dues and the revenues from the National Storytelling conference as well as grants and scholarships, the NSN provides an information source for storytellers. Two special interest groups are Youth Storytelling and The Healing Arts. Youth Storytelling focuses on stories told by children or to children. The link to Kids Storytelling Club is fun and easy to navigate. The graphics appeal to children and invited them to explore the site. The Healing Arts link leads to a called the Healing Story Alliance, an organization devoted to exploring the use of storytelling healing. It is designed to be useful to adults interested in storytelling to facilitate healing in various ways. Each special interest site is independent of the parent organization and promotes itself and its respective publications. Each has interactive links to explore. The Healing Story Alliance has a wonderful bibliography of stories classified by healing need such as "cancer support" or "eating disorders". There are a total of 41 categories to search with results available in 11 formats including audiotapes, personal stories, videos and websites. The Kids Storytelling Club includes activity guides and craft instructions for children to use in creating and telling their own stories. Articles for adults on the NSN homepage such as "How do I become a storyteller" are informative and interesting. Tellabration is a worldwide event sponsored by NSN that promotes an evening of storytelling around the world in different locations on the same day. The event started in the United States and went international when Japanese storytellers participated. By 1997 it was celebrated on every continent, with the exception of Antarctica. Tellabration is celebrated in November each year. The links providing information on this event include specific dates and times of storytelling activities on the state level. The website is commercial in that it promotes membership in its organizations but provides free information about events, meetings and articles on-line of interest to storytellers. It discusses the differences in philosophy between the National Storytelling Network and the International Story Center, the two major storytelling associations in the United States. The site is very current and was last updated Sept 25, 2002. All the links are working and load quickly. The site is well designed and easy to navigate. Storytellers and those interested in attending storytelling festivals will find this site useful and informative.