The Women’s Storytelling Festival storytellers are:
Karin Amano, Lona Bartlett, Meghna Bhat, Lyn Ford, Neshama Franklin, Bonnie Gardner, Natalie Jones, Jenn Kamara, Nina Lesiga, Jezrie Marcano-Courtney, Jamie McElhatton, Jennifer Munro, Denise Page, Liz Pardue, Elisa Pearmain, Kristin Pedemonti, Regina Stoops, Liz Weir, Megan Wells, and Hope Wilder.
Emcees for the festival include: Elizabeth Ellis, Sherry Grimes, Miriam Nadel, Mayor Catherine Reade, Delegate Holly Seibold, and 1A host Jenn White.
Read about our emcees here.
Bios of all the storytellers below.
Storyteller, In-Person
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, In-Person
Lona Bartlett
Lona Bartlett is a professional storyteller, puppeteer and educator who has delighted audiences throughout the U.S. and internationally for over 30 years. Degrees in education and a small town upbringing in the Catskill Mountains provide inspiration for a long list of programs and presentations. No matter the genre, Lona loves bringing excitement and insight to audiences at schools, libraries, conferences, festivals, corporate gatherings and special events.
lonabartlett.com
Storyteller, Virtual
Meghna Bhat
Meghna (she/her) is a first-generation South Asian immigrant, award-winning storyteller, and creative disruptor advancing social justice. Through trauma-informed storytelling, she sparks dialogue, challenges cultural norms, and fosters intergenerational healing. As founder of Gulabi Stories, she amplifies South Asian voices. Her impactful work has earned the 2025 ORACLE Award for regional service and leadership from the National Storytelling Network.
Storyteller, Virtual
Lynette Ford
Lynette Ford’s storytelling is rooted in the spoken-word traditions and creative narratives of her Affrilachian family. Lyn is an award-winning writer, an Ohio teaching artist, a certified laughter yoga teacher, an international keynote speaker and workshop presenter, and a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers’ Circle of Elders.
Storyteller, Virtual
Neshama Franklin
Neshama has been telling ever since she learned to talk. She got her professional start more than three decades ago sharing folktales at the Fairfax Library where she still works. Then she branched into personal stories and has been performing ever since, on stage and via Zoom. She’s been a grand slam winner for the Moth and Six Feet Apart Productions, has appeared at Tell It On Tuesday, the National Storytelling Network and the Bay Area Storytelling Festivals and The Naked Truth. She has a biweekly radio show on KWMR.org and a weekly blog about books at marincountylibrary.org
Storyteller, In-Person
Bonnie Gardner
Bonnie Gardner is a former journalist who changed careers to work in IT, but never lost her love for a good story. She has performed frequently with Better Said Than Done and is a Six Feet Apart story slam winner. She has performed in the Women’s Storytelling Festival, the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival, and the Connecticut Storytelling Festival.
Storyteller, Virtual
Natalie Jones
A preschool whisperer, an award-winning liar and a heart-tugging teller of tales, Natalie Jones has practiced her craft over 30 years. Her dynamic style and eclectic repertoire reflect her background as park ranger, teacher, and librarian. She also teaches storytelling and literacy skills. Currently she is a story and music teaching artist for The Craddock Center in Cherry Log, GA.
Storyteller, In-Person
Jenn Kamara
A policy wonk by day and absurdity magnet by night, Jenn approaches every situation as an opportunity for a good story. Jenn has told stories with Better Said Than Done, RISK!, Story District, Story Collider and many others.
Storyteller, In-Person
Nina Lesiga
Nina Lesiga loves going on uncommon adventures and sharing stories about them. She’s performed for “Stories from the Stage,” “Generation Women”and “Better Said the Done” among others. Nina hosts the monthly Bridgeport Art Trail Storytelling Exchange on Zoom and co-produced the PechaKucha Night Bridgeport CT digital storytelling.
Storyteller, Virtual
Jezrie Marcano-Courtney
Jezrie’s stories are adventures of lived experience. Her tales reflect on acceptance and belonging as an Afro-Latine woman. She’s performed at various events in the Northeast, most notably, Stories From The Stage, The New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Olio at Sharing The Fire, and (mostly) True Things.
Storyteller, In-Person
Jamie McElhatton
Jamie McElhatton spent most of their professional life in Washington, DC as an investigative reporter and private detective in Washington, DC before working in education as an instructional assistant in a pre-k special ed classroom for a local school district, while performing comedy and storytelling in and around the nation’s capital and Baltimore since 2022. Jamie’s one act play, “Don’t Wait,” was produced by Pink Pen Theatre in 2024. Jamie rides their bicycle to shows and enjoys life, family, wiffle ball and riding their bicycle.
Storyteller, In-Person
Jennifer Munro
An award-winning storyteller, Jennifer Munro, tells original stories that resonate with the frailty and courage of the human condition. She also tells braided stories, weaving personal narrative with myth, legend, and allegory. She has performed at major festivals across the country and internationally. Her most recent project, a one-woman show of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, has been hailed by critics as “dazzling and spellbinding.”
Storyteller, In-Person
Denise Page
Denise Manning Keyes Page is founder of Ubuntu Storytellers, an ensemble of story artists of Black and Brown ancestry and co-founder of “Women Tell by the Decades” with Jen Munro. She is currently working on a trilogy “Legacy of A Wealthy Slave” … taken from a headline from the New York Times obituary of her great grandfather.
Storyteller, In-Person
Liz Pardue
Liz Z Pardue is an award-winning storyteller, writer, and director from North Carolina with a penchant for shining a light in dark spaces. The founder of Sisterhood of Spirits, LLC, Liz operates ghost tours and spooky historical theatrical productions from her home in Fuquay-Varina, the most haunted small town in the South. In the last year, she published her first book and performed at the annual NC Storytelling Festival Banquet, the Bynum Front Porch Series, The Monti, and the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival, where she won both the Linda Goodman New Voices and People’s Choice Awards. Currently, she is touring the Old North State with her “Keep NC Weird” series. Find more at
LizZPardue.com.
Storyteller, Virtual
Elisa Pearmain
Elisa Pearmain, storyteller, is the award-winning author of two collections of folktales, and a double CD.
Storyteller, In-Person
Kristin Pedemonti
Recipient of the NSN International StoryBridge Award, Kristin Pedemonti journeys around the world (30 countries so far!) to amplify marginalized voices, break stereotypes, connect and heal. Whether as a Teller, Narrative Therapist or Consultant for the World Bank; exploring our humanity is Kristin’s Kintsugi glue and gold. Free Hugs forever! More at kristinpedemonti.com or www.steeryourstory.com
Storyteller, In-Person
Regina Stoops
Regina grew up in a small, Midwestern town where nothing much happened. She inherited her mom’s propensity for a quick comeback, known as the “snappy gene,” and has used the skill to entertain and annoy folks her entire life. She is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, writer, and co-producer of the online storytelling platform Six Feet Apart Productions. Her stories have been heard on the Risk! Podcast, The Moth Grand Slam stage, NPR’s Story Borealis, Unreeling Stories, In A Nutshell, The Good Liars Club, and Redwood Nights. Regina uses storytelling as her weapon of choice to help tackle diversity, adversity, and suburban chaos.
Reginastoops.com
Storyteller, In-Person
Liz Weir
Liz Weir, MBE, is an Irish storyteller with an international reputation. She has been telling stories for five decades and has shared her stories on five continents. Liz has been a featured storyteller at major international festivals including the National Storytelling Festival USA and has presented at the Australian Storytelling Conference.
Storyteller, In-Person
Megan Wells
With five national awards for theatre and storytelling, Megan’s prolific repertoire spans world myth to autobiography. If Meryl Streep and Mary Poppins had a sister, she would be Megan; deep, charming, heart-felt with a precision of language that delivers stories as Soul medicine. Rives Collins says, “Megan is epic and intimate in equal measure.”
Storyteller, Virtual & In-Person
Hope Wilder
Hope Wilder tells riveting personal narratives and teaches the craft of personal storytelling in Durham, North Carolina. She co-hosts monthly storytelling open mics with Story Connection NC. She won a Monti Story Slam and participated in the 2025 Monti Grand Slam. Her other loves are cats, playing cello, and river walks.