The Women’s Storytelling Festival storytellers are:
Sheila Arnold, Kelly Campos, Elizabeth Ellis, Naomi Faw, Heather Forest, Neshama Franklin, Karen Golden, Megan Hicks, Amanda Lawrence, Bowen Lee, Jezrie Marcano-Courtney, Shilpa Mehta, Sue O’Halloran, Liz Pardue, Kristin Pedemonti, Jo Radner, Anne Shimojima, and Judith Valerie.
Emcees for the festival include: Read about our emcees here.
Bios of all the storytellers below.
Storyteller, In-Person
Sheila Arnold
Sheila Arnold has been gifted by God with performance skills; using this talent since she was eight years old. Since 2003 she has been a full-time Storyteller traveling through the United States and sharing a variety of stories, as well as doing Historic Character Presentations, Christian Monologues, Coaching and Workshops.
Storyteller, In-Person
Kelly Campos
Kelly Campos is a youth librarian in the south suburbs of Chicago. Born in Detroit, her story until now has taken her from ballet to Second City Detroit Mainstage, from rock & roll singer/songwriter to Kinko’s copy specialist, and finally to the literary activism of librarianship. She believes in the power of stories to inspire, entertain, educate, and enlighten.
Storyteller, Virtual
Elizabeth Ellis
Elizabeth Ellis grew up in the Appalachian Mountains and was a children’s librarian at the Dallas Public Library before becoming a professional storyteller. The “Divine Miss E” is a versatile and riveting teller of Appalachian and Texas tales and stories of heroic American women, though her personal stories are arguably her best. Invariably hilarious and poignant, she is a repeated favorite at the National Storytelling Festival. A mother and grandmother, she makes her home in Dallas, Texas.
Storyteller, Virtual
Naomi Faw
Naomi writes her own material based on her experiences growing up and living, as she describes it, at the “foot of the mountain.” Her beautifully crafted stories often evoke a range of emotions and ultimately delight her listeners. She has won the New Voice Award at the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival and the annual online story slam for Six Feet Apart Productions.
Storyteller, Virtual
Heather Forest
Heather Forest is an award-winning storyteller, author, and modern-day bard. She is a pioneer in the American Storytelling Renaissance. Her repertoire of world tales told in a fusion of poetry, prose, and music has been featured in theatres, schools, conferences and major storytelling festivals throughout the United States and abroad. She is an author of seventeen folktale books and storytelling recordings and holds a PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. She is a recipient of two Oracle Awards from the National Storytelling Network, The Circle of Excellence Award and the Talking Leaves Award. She is founder and Executive Director of Story Arts, a Long Island, New York based not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art of storytelling and its educational applications and is president of the Healing Story Alliance.
Storyteller, In-Person
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
Storyteller, In-Person
Karen Golden
Karen Golden is a professional storyteller, musician, published author, and award-winning recording artist. “Karen’s mesmerizing stories marry age-old values with rollicking saxophone and amazing sound effects.” USA Today Karen has performed on four continents and virtually in more than 15 countries. Through her stories and music, she weaves together tradition, personal experience, and cultural wisdom, always seeking to build bridges of understanding and hope. Karen is also the Founder/ Director of Creative Learning Place, a homeschool learning center in Los Angeles, and the co-director of Klezmer Arts Institute Los Angeles (KAILA). When she is not making story, musical or educational connections, Karen can be found in her garden tending to her many flowers, plants and turtles.
Storyteller, In-Person
Megan Hicks
Megan Hicks’s storytelling career began when she took the job of Story Lady in a small school library. That was more than 40 years ago, and she’s still at it. Stories have taken her to libraries and schools across four continents and to festivals nationwide. With her husband, Jack Abgott, she co-produces Rose Valley Storytelling House Concerts ten time a year; the event is now in it eleventh season. When she’s not telling or developing new stories, she’s folding paper or doing something with fiber.
Storyteller, In-Person
Amanda Lawrence
Dr. Amanda Lawrence enjoys sharing stories of all kinds. A National Storytelling Festival Slam finalist and J.J. Reneaux Emerging Artist Award winner, she has performed at schools, festivals, and other events across the U.S., including the Texas, Florida, Alleghany Highlands, Stone Soup, Haunting in the Hills, Roots & Routes, and Women’s Storytelling festivals; the National Storytelling Network Conference, and the St. Louis and Atlanta Fringe festivals, among others. She is also an instructor and regular teller at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. Amanda co-founded and directs the Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival, now in its thirteenth year, and she serves as Vice-Chair Elect of the National Storytelling Network.
Storyteller, In-Person
Bowen Lee
Bowen Lyam Lee performs with national, international, and regional programs. She conducts workshops and specializes in historical, educational, and environmental storytelling. Her personal stories reveal her fifth generation Chinese American experience, and her traditional tales bring new perspectives and opportunities for reflection.
Storyteller, In-Person
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, Virtual
Shilpa Mehta
Shilpa Mehta better known as ‘Shilpa Story Rack’ is a performance storyteller and an author based in India whose words cross borders, touch hearts, and awaken imaginations. As a bilingual storyteller, she tells stories to people of all ages in Hindi and English.
She has captivated the audience through her performances at various literary and storytelling events nationally and internationally. She has authored academic books for children. Her fictional woven tales, both in Hindi and English, have found their way in various anthologies. You can find about her work on her social media handles as ‘Shilpa Story Rack’.
Storyteller, In-Person
Sue O’Halloran
Sue O’Halloran is an internationally recognized storyteller who is the author of Common Cross-Cultural Mistakes and Compelling Stories, Compelling Causes: Nonprofit Marketing Success. She has created award-winning multicultural performances exploring identity and inclusion. A recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Award and the 2024 Florida Royal Palm Literary Award, her work has been featured on PBS, ABC’s Nightline, and in the Boston Globe and the New York Times.
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.
Storyteller, In-Person
Kristin Pedemonti
Kristin Pedemonti is an award-winning international storyteller, speaker, consultant and narrative therapist. Whether traditional tales, personal narratives or historical portrayals, Kristin’s stories foster hope, understanding, and shared humanity. Recipient of NSN International StoryBridge award and Storytelling Consultant for the World Bank; Kristin brings global perspective, warmth, and wisdom to every stage.
Storyteller, In-Person
Jo Radner
Jo Radner believes that humor and gravity are good bedfellows. After thirty years at American University in DC, she returned to her home area of western Maine as a creative storyteller, writer, teacher, and poet. Past president of the American Folklore Society and the National Storytelling Network, she is one of the organizers of Storytellers for Social Justice.
Storyteller, Virtual
Anne Shimojima
Anne Shimojima has shared her stories for over forty years at venues including the National Storytelling Festival and as Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center. Her CD Sakura Tales: Stories from Japan won a Storytelling World Resource Honor Award in 2019 and in 2024 Anne received the Circle of Excellence ORACLE Award from the National Storytelling Network.
Storyteller, Virtual
Judith Valerie
Judith Valerie is a British American storyteller and yoga teacher. She’s told tales in
communities, churches, and for her students. She performed a story at the Greensboro
Fringe festival about ending violence in her family.
Judith traveled across Asia, encountering fascinating souls and a few risky
experiences. In her tales, you might meet a mischievous monkey, a bad temper swami,
or a bully who needs his comeuppance.