(August 31, 2010) – On Wednesday, September 15 at 7:00 p.m., storytellers and writers will converge at the Westfield Memorial Library for another MothUP, a new type of storytelling event. The theme for the evening is “Fall Memories,” such as the first day of school or a disastrous hayride.
The phenomenal popularity of New York City's, “The Moth,” has inspired this program. The Moth is an event in which people get up and tell five-minute, true stories based on a particular theme. All the stories are told in front of an audience, without notes, scripts or cheat sheets and should be a true, first-person account.
The names of ten individuals from the audience who have prepared stories are picked randomly from a hat. Each storyteller has five minutes to share his or her story. A team of judges, chosen from the audience, gives a score.
To get a better idea of how this evening works, participants should go to themoth.org for inspiration.
The Moth, a not-for-profit storytelling organization, was founded in New York in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of sultry summer evenings on his native St. Simon's Island, Georgia, where he and a small circle of friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales on his friend Wanda's porch.
After moving to New York, George missed the sense of connection he had felt sharing stories with his friends back home, and he decided to invite a few friends over to his New York apartment to tell and hear stories. Thus the first 'Moth' evening took place in his living room.
The program is open to Westfield Memorial Library and MURAL card holders.
Register by visiting www.wmlnj.org and clicking on Online Calendar, or call 908.789.4090 X 4140.
Founded in 1879, the Westfield Memorial Library strives to provide the Westfield community an environment that promotes a love of reading and ensures free access to ideas and information. For more information call 908.789.4090, visit the library’s website at www.wmlnj.org, and sign up for the monthly e-newsletter “Library Loop,” or stop by the library at 550 East Broad Street for a copy of the quarterly newsletter “Take Note.”
