A Night of Storytelling Inspired by The Moth

The Vermont College of Fine Arts invites you to A Celebration of Storytelling on October 2. Everybody has a story to tell – about a life changing moment, a terrifying event, or a person who changed your life. This is your opportunity to share it with a community of fellow story tellers and listeners.

To participate in A Night of Storytelling, Inspired by The Moth, check out the VCFA website for guidelines and rules, then show up and put your name in the hat. About a dozen people will be chosen to tell their story on stage. VPR will be recording the event for possible broadcast of the most stellar stories. Those who don’t want to tell stories should come and listen.

Generations of storytellers have made their way through the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing, Writing for Children and Visual Art Programs. Novelists, children’s writers, slam poets and performance artists from all over the world bring their words to life on the Montpelier campus year-round. What better place to host a storytelling event inspired by The Moth?

Why is it called “The Moth”? The founder, novelist George Dawes Green, was sitting on the porch telling stories with friends while moths would circle the porch light. He and his friends realized “that the characters in their best stories would often find themselves drawn to some bright light - of adventure, ambition, knowledge.” The name stuck and now these events are being held all over the country. The Moth Radio Hour is broadcast on many public radio stations and the weekly Moth podcast is a ‘must listen’ for thousands.

The community is invited to this event and encouraged to participate. There are some rules, however: Prepare. Rehearse. Tell it to your dog or your plants and your friends. But do not write it down or make notes. And make sure you can tell the whole story within five minutes.

Please join the Vermont College of Fine Arts and VPR for this free event on October 2 at 7:30. And bring your yarns. Together we’ll weave an evening of stories. This event is sponsored in part by The Vermont Humanities Council

P.S. VPR presents a five hour Moth Marathon Saturday, October 16 from noon till 5. Also - The Moth Radio Hour returns with a new five-part series in November. Listen Saturdays at 4 beginning November 6th on VPR.