HARDWICK – On July 31, at 6 p.m., the Jeudevine Memorial Library will host a community storytelling event with Samara Anderson.
Anderson began telling stories through an event called Exptempo, and has wanted to maintain group storytelling since. She, through storytelling, has found that group settings encourage people to come together and generate vulnerability and genuine connection. A lawyer by trade, she didn’t begin engaging with storytelling and mindfulness until around 2015.
She began hosting events when she decided to tell a story at the Monkton Library, and was met with such support from the community that she has decided to host an event in every library in Vermont. All 187 of them. “People come together, they’re laughing, they’re crying, there’s hugging, there’s this amazing magic that happens,” said Anderson.
“In this time of disconnection, everyone’s a Republican or a Democrat, everyone has taken sides.
When I host these events, there are no sides. Everyone is just a human and they’re sharing this experience of being human, and it’s universal.”
Her events are not scored by judges, unlike some other storytelling groups. She has little to no rules for who can tell stories. Recently, she has allowed accommodations for those who need them, allowing people to take a seat as they tell a story, or use notecards. This opens up the world of storytelling to more people.
“What I’m finding is the smallest communities have the most connection, they rally around their library,” she said.
In Hardwick, stories can range from five to seven and a half minutes, and can be about anything. Anderson has found that most of her events are about half local people and half storytellers that she knows. There is still space to sign up. Interested storytellers can email her at anderson_samara@yahoo.com.
Alex Strand
Alex Strand is a Hardwick Gazette reporting intern for this summer. She is a rising junior at the University of Vermont studying English and Psychology. She is from Boston, MA, but has begun to fall in love with the Northeast Kingdom. In her free time, she likes reading, swimming and canoe tripping.
Can I sign up to tell a story? I’ve told maybe 5 over the years?