The Women’s Storytelling Festival 2025 storytellers are:
Laura Deal, Swapna Deshpande, Linda Gorham, Jennifer Hillery, Tobey Ishii Anderson, Andrea Kamens, Amanda Lawrence, Carol Moore, Miriam Nadel, Ingrid Nixon, Laura Packer, Jessica Robinson, Aimee Snow, and Sarah Snyder.
Karin Amano, Sarah Brady, Sarah Beth Nelson, Shani Womack, and Janel Woodland will be performing in a special virtual only concert, premiering March 20, 2025 and available to everyone who buys a ticket.
Bios of all the storytellers below.
Storyteller, Virtual
Karin Amano
A native of Japan, Karin trained in Japanese traditional theatre before studying educational theatre at NYU. In New York she performed in numerous plays in off-off Broadway productions. She has been an actor/storyteller at Walt Disney World for 25 years. Karin has performed at the National Storytelling Festival’s Exchange Place, Sierra Storytelling Festival and Bay Area Storytelling Festival.
Storyteller, Virtual
Sarah Brady
Sarah Brady is a storyteller, teaching artist, and writer whose backgrounds in theatre and education influence her storytelling. She’s told stories in the US and UK, where she lived for three years. She tells historical, traditional, literary, and personal tales and was a New Voice Featured Teller at the 50th Annual National Storytelling Festival. Passionate about stories that help us see each other and the world around us, she specializes in finding the heart of each story she tells.
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Storyteller, In-Person
Laura Deal
Laura Deal, storyteller and poet, is the 2024 recipient of the JJ Reneaux Emerging Artist Award. Recordings of her work have appeared on Story Story Podcast, the Apple Seed on BYU Radio, and Story Borealis on KBBI Radio, as well as her CDs, The Diffendaffer Taffy Cafe and Other Stories and Simple, Clever, and Wise. She’s the author of The Newcomer’s Guide to the Invisible Realm, and Marbles: New and Collected Poems.
Storyteller, In-Person
Swapna Deshpande
I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I am a mom, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend, a physician and a storyteller! I grew up in India as an extremely shy person! Something changed in my frontal lobes with maturity and I started telling stories! And here I’m to share a part of me with you!
Besides storytelling, I love to grow tropical plants and watch birds! I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this fabulous event!
Storyteller, In-Person
Linda Gorham
Linda Gorham has engaged international audiences of all ages with interactive global
folktales, distinctive Greek myths, and notably twisted fairy tales for over 35 years.
Additional programs showcase Linda’s extensive research and personal insight into
the African American experience. To round out her repertoire, Linda shares personal
and family stories she learned while sitting on (and sticking to) her grandmother’s
plastic covered couch. Each performance is infused with Linda’s unconventional
humor and her signature ‘sophisticated attitude’.
Storyteller, In-Person
Jennifer Hillery
Jennifer Hillery wears many hats. She is storyteller, mother, lawyer by background, volunteer in her community and for her alma mater Skidmore College, and co-founder of Redwood Speaking, LLC, where individuals and organizations are supported in developing public speaking skills and confidence. Her storytelling highlights include winning a Moth StorySLAM; appearing on World Channel’s “Stories from the Stage;” participating in Riot Improv’s “Stories to Scenes” & Stellar Storytelling’s “Stories & Spirits;” and being a “Featured Teller” at Fugitive Stories.
Storyteller, In-Person
Tobey Ishii Anderson
Ever since Tobey Ishii Anderson’s Japanese grandma uttered the words:Mukashi, mukashi…a long time ago…Tobey has been held captive by the wonders of stories. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Asia and International School teacher, Tobey has lived in numerous countries throughout the world. She had the good fortune of gathering stories from diverse cultures. tobey belongs to the South Sound Story Guild in Olympia, Washington and the Asian American Storytellers in Action.
Storyteller, In-Person
Andrea Kamens
Andrea Kamens is thrilled to return to the Women’s Storytelling Festival! Based in Boston, MA, and Zooming everywhere, she tells and teaches traditional, original, Jewish, and first-person stories that tremble with truth. Andrea’s a feature coordinator at The Story Space, volunteer for Northeast Storytelling (NEST), and founding director of ASST’s global online Youth Standing Strong Camp. Andrea is a religious school teacher, writer, mom of five, and decades-long community connector who believes every season is beach season.
Storyteller, In-Person
Amanda Lawrence
Amanda Lawrence enjoys sharing folktales, ghost stories, and personal narratives. She was a finalist in the Story Slam at the 2018 National Storytelling Festival and has been a featured teller at the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival and other events across the Southeast. She is also a regular teller at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. She co-founded and co-directs the Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival, now in its 11th year.
Storyteller, In-Person
Carol Moore
Carol Moore is a dedicated public speaking coach and professional storyteller who loves to educate and entertain. With a style that is comedic, conversational, and authentic, she has performed with organizations such as the National Storytelling Festival, the Women’s Storytelling Festival, the Moth, Story District, Tales and Ales, Storytelling Arts of Indiana, Six Feet Apart Productions, the TELL: Pittsburgh Storytelling Series and more. Carol has presented at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, served as a speaker coach for TED speakers through TEDxTysons, competed in public speaking competitions with Toastmasters International and is a member of both the NSN and the National Communication Association.
Storyteller, In-Person
Miriam Nadel
Miriam Nadel has told folktales, personal stories, and original stories for almost 35 years. Some of her favorite venues have included The Washington Folk Festival, the C&O Canal Visitor Center, Better Said Than Done, a Hollywood art gallery, a Las Vegas nightclub, and a campground in the Empty Quarter in Oman. She collects hats, paper dolls, and stories about ancestors with criminal records. All of her stories are true, whether or not they happened that way.
Storyteller, Virtual
Sarah Beth Nelson
Sarah Beth Nelson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In addition to researching oral information, she studies the American reality (slam & open mic) storytelling movement. Sarah Beth performs in fringes, festivals, and slams, and has served on the boards of the Georgia Storytelling Network and the National Storytelling Network. She hosts the Wright House Concerts at her home in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
Storyteller, In-Person
Ingrid Nixon
Ingrid Nixon is an award-winning storyteller, retired National Park Service ranger, and expedition guide who loves taking audiences on journeys of the imagination. She has written, hosted, and narrated numerous award-winning films about national parks. Ingrid is a champion liar. She hosts/produces “Story Borealis,” a program dedicated to the art of oral storytelling on National Public Radio affiliate KBBI.org. Ingrid holds a Masters in Storytelling and performs at festivals throughout the states, including the National Storytelling Festival. She hails from Alaska.
Storyteller, In-Person
Laura Packer
Laura Packer knows the best way to truth is through a good story; she has told, taught, ranted, raved, coached, consulted, and considered storytelling for over 30 years. She loves how stories connect people and help us dream bigger. Laura has won many awards including the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence. Laura holds a degree in folklore and mythology and is the author of From Audience to Zeal: The ABCs of Finding, Crafting, and Telling a Great Story.
Storyteller, In-Person
Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson is the Founding Executive Director of Better Said Than Done. A spoken-word storyteller, Jessica has performed at Exchange Place at the International Storytelling Festival, on WGBH’s “Stories from the Stage,” and for the Stone Soup, the Washington Folk, the Florida, and the Hampton Storytelling festivals. Jessica is a 2023 ORACLE Award recipient from the National Storytelling Network. Jessica’s new memoir, Stages: My Life in Stories, is out now, from Tucker DS Press.
Storyteller, In-Person
Sarah Snyder
Sarah Snyder is a writer, communications consultant, and author of 4 books. Occasionally, she blogs about self-care and retreating.
Storyteller, In-Person
Aimee Snow
Aimee Snow has been an actor and storyteller since childhood. She grew up in Northern Virginia and after stints in Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, returned here to put down roots. She has been seen on numerous local stages in community and professional theatre, where her favorite genre is anything Shakespearean. She is currently on an extended hiatus from acting while she raises her 9-year-old son,Beckett. By day she is a federal employee and by night she can be found in her pajamas by 9pm because she’s a single parent in her late 40s. Her interests include cycling, watching sports, trivia,crossword puzzles, and double checking the latest facts her son picked up from YouTube.
Storyteller, Virtual
Shani Womack
Roshanda “Shani” Womack is the founder of Shani Womack Enterprises, LLC and Brothers-Womack Publishing. She is a storyteller, author, educational consultant and entertainer, Shani uses storytelling to support mental health wellbeing and youth literacy through her program curricula, workshops, and performances. Shani specializes in telling her own stories. (Her first one-woman show debuts in, August.) But she also loves to share the Anansi Folktales she learned from her Jamaican Grandmother and Great Aunt as a child.
Storyteller, Virtual
Janel Woodland
Janel Woodland is an award-winning storyteller and graduate of the Ohio State University (Columbus,
OH) where she received a bachelor’s degree in allied health. Although born and raised in Northwest
Ohio, Janel currently calls the Gulf Coast of Florida home, where she can often be found creating
community around a campfire through her passion for the ukulele and her gift of storytelling. Janel
draws upon her love of theater, music, and nature to create a unique story experience for her audience.
She specializes in ancient allegories from original cultures, tall tales, and personal stories of her blended
family that are often hilarious and always heartwarming.