“I just love this format of self-expression,” says Jessie Magleby, librarian at the Moab Library, referring to The Moth, an organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling.
Moab has its own version of The Moth, a local organization called the Storied Self that keeps the spirit of storytelling alive for the uniquely Moab community. For one night every few months, community members are asked to reflect on a theme and bring their stories to the stage for a lively event of sharing.
The next slam is right around the corner and brings a special ingredient to the classic recipe for the evening of storytelling: a partnering organization. In addition to Back of Beyond Books, the Moab Library and the Moab Arts Center as partners, the Storied Self will hand the mic over to the Moab Valley Multicultural Center to host.
Rhiana Medina, the executive director of the MVMC, offered to partner with the ongoing event since they share a common mission of sharing stories to strengthen community.
On March 28, MVMC will offer a reception and information on Multicultural March, a month-long celebration of diversity and fundraising for the organization. There will be three pre-selected stories from community members that highlight the diversity of our community.
This form of community event is reminiscent of Dialogs in Diversity, an event hosted in 2017 by MVMC featuring conversations in the common experience of culture under the theme “being new.”
Medina understands the need for an invitation to do something uncomfortable, advocating for a series of pre-selected showcase stories to lead the night. She learned the power of adding this element of encouragement to tell people they have something important to share when hosting Dancing with the Moab Stars.
“The people we asked to do it and did it had such a connection to that experience. Those stories stay with people for years,” Medina says. “So I want to think about who wouldn’t put their name in the hat and allow them to share.”
After the showcase stories, a hat will be passed around to collect volunteer stories, which will be emceed by Storied Self host Shari Zollinger of Back of Beyond books. She reflects on the power of story, appreciating the active experience of live storytelling as an experience with the voice as much as sitting with an author’s intimate stories in the form of a novel.
The event is interactive– the audience is asked to listen with an open heart and encouraged to receive the stories as a gift.
“We are creating an audience that is ready to hear and witness each storyteller,” Zollinger says of the supportive nature of the community that attends the events.
“This is the power of stories: getting to know each other, which is the definition of community,” says Magleby, who is leading the collaboration with the Library.
Celia Alario, local health and communication coach, is key in coordinating the event.
“We’ve had an incredible response, it’s an intergenerational crowd, from all walks of life and all backgrounds,” Alario said.
Alario is hoping these events serve as a bridge across differences and generate a respect for each other’s differences.
The Storied Self crew will encourage participants to share their stories in multiple ways; if one doesn’t want to get up on stage, they can answer prompts or engage in an interactive chalkboard (another new feature of this slam).
The theme for the next slam is Destiny. Prompts to help develop a story include– Destiny: Is it born or is it made? Written for us or by us? Do you have a story from the intersection of your own life, there in the crosswalk between chance and fate? Have you looked in the rearview mirror of your experience and felt destiny’s hand in it?
Be part of the experience on March 28th at the Moab Arts Center. Reception begins at 5:30, stories start at 7. Snacks provided by a grant from the Moab Library. For questions, find the Storied Self on Instagram and Facebook.
