“Wherever you are, if you know these stars when you look up, it’s like standing right here at home.” – Donald Davis, storyteller
Imagine a pavilion decked out with string lights, a peaceful atmosphere grown as the sun set behind the built stage at Wilmore City Hall. Crowds huddled close by, everyone ready to hear marvelous tales of “Haints” and the “Boo-Hag” and heartwarming stories about growing up in Appalachia. The passion or heartache in people’s voices kept eyes wide and ears perked. Little children sat in their parent’s laps, happily munching on bags of kettle corn. The Wilmore Storytelling Festival had an opportunity for it all.
On Sept. 17 and 18, Wilmore, KY, held More Tales, which brought together storytellers from across Appalachia to share their craft. One of whom was Nicholasville’s Ed Bryson, a member of the Kentucky Storytelling Association.
Bryson grew up along the blue Tuckaseegee River around Brevard, North Carolina but currently lives in Lexington with his family. Initially, he acted as an ordained minister. But when he first attended a storytelling event in the 1908s, Bryson felt a tug on his heart.
“I could tell there was a power in storytelling that I needed to learn,” he said.
Now he works as an adjunct professor, where he continues to write and inform the public about the importance of storytellers.
“I’ve been on the hunt for forty years,” Bryson said. “Telling stories, collecting stories, creating stories. It’s an art form that has really been in revival. These people are artists. They work at it as a craft. As any artist would.”
Storytelling, Bryson believes, shapes a community due to history embedded in the details. Who he talks to impacts how he shares stories. The audience is informed to the best of their abilities about the past and better connect it to the present and future. “That’s relational,” he said. “That’s community building.”
The relational aspect is Bryson’s favorite part about storytelling. We grew up, Bryson summarized, hearing stories from our elders without even noticing their impact on us. To a storyteller like Bryson, stories shape our identity and therefore, events like More Tales deserve to have every seat filled.
