Thursday, October 2, 2014

Storytelling Hiatus

Storytelling on the first Thursday of every month is taking a hiatus as we do not have a place to meet at the moment. Chebucto Coffee has been sold and is being renovated.

We are looking for a new place to meet and perform so if you know of any businesses that would like a small crowd, please let us know by contacting Pat on our Facebook page or by leaving a comment below.

We are still storytelling though. Keep an eye on this blog for upcoming October events:
  • Evergreen House Museum/ Tea and Tales 
  • Cole Harbour Heritage Farm Museum/Ghostly Gala
Cindy Campbell Stone

Storytellers Circle of Halifax




October Events! Helen Creighton Folklore Society



Hi gang,

Summer has gone by way too quickly and the absence of WTF! is making us restless but Fall has some interesting things happening that just may fill the void.

*** HCFS AT THE LIBRARIES ***
The Helen Creighton Folklore Society has a few programs going on in October to celebrate 25 years of our involvement with the annual ghost story writing competition. These programs can be found in the current library guide.

25 Years of Ghosts! : Songs, Stories, Folklore

Families/Ages 7+

The Helen Creighton Folklore Society’s musicians, singers, and storytellers celebrate 25 years of ghost stories! The Society members will tell, sing or perform 25 songs, stories, and folklore bits in this 1 hour program for families and for adults who dare to attend. Not for the faint of heart!

Alderney Gate Public Library Sunday, October 19/2:30 pm.


How to Craft a Scary Tale

All ages

Maritime Folk Series Workshop with Cindy Campbell Stone.

Youth leaders, campfire storytellers, film makers, and writers... iit all starts with   a tale well told.

Tantallon Public Library Saturday, October 4/2:00 pm-3:00 pm

Registration required



Maritime Folklore Series: The Supernatural!            

2-part session with Margo Carruthers

Supernatural songs and stories, superstitions, folklore, and a bit of Gaelic too!

Alderney Gate

Wednesday, October 22/7:00 pm & Wednesday, October 29/7:00 pm



Haunting Encounters

with Cindy Campbell Stone

Ages 9+

What kinds of ‘things’ go bump in the night? Hear stories that may make your heart pound, your blood curdle, and the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

 Tantallon Public Library Saturday, October 25/2:00 pm


*** HCFS PRESENTS GEOFF KAUFMANN***

The Helen Creighton Folklore Society with support from the U.S. Embassy is presenting a series of events with the legendary Geoff Kaufmann on October 23,24 and 26. Geoff is known internationally for his work at Mystic Seaport organizing the annual sea music festival. He is the program director for music at the museum but is also an accomplished musician, singer, songwriter and historian.

On Thursday, October 23, Geoff will be the featured performer at the Rose and Kettle Concert Sessions. A great evening of sea music starting at 7pm.

On Friday, October 24 at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic at 7pm, Geoff will present his one-man show "So Long from Home: A Connecticut War of 1812 Tale in Prose and Song” based on the diary of Benjamin Franklin Palmer, a United States privateer taken prisoner in the War of 1812 who kept a detailed diary of his experiences here at Melville Island Prison and subsequent detention at Dartmoor Prison in England. This event is being held in collaboration with the Company of Friends at the Maritime Museum.  Earlier in the day at 1 pm, Geoff will be conducting a workshop on the application of music to heritage interpretation.

On Sunday, October 26 at 2 pm, Geoff will be presenting a program reflecting spirituality at sea called "Natural Reflections" at All Saints Cathedral in Halifax.


I hope that you will find something of interest here to tempt you out of the house and into the company of other WTF! friends looking to reconnect after this very long hiatus.

Margo and Cindy

Singing Storytellers Symposium- part of Celtic Colours





Singing Storytellers Symposium - October 9-12th 2014

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

***THURSDAY, October 9th: James McConnell Memorial Library 50 Falmouth Street, Sydney (downtown). 10:00 am – 4:00 pm***

Registration: 9:00 am Thursday October 9th: James McConnell Memorial Library.

SPECIAL EXHIBIT - 9:00 am – 4:00 pm: Bringing Storytellers to the Screen Through The Films of Vincent Moon / Ely Rosenblum, ART/E/FACT, University of Cambridge

MAIN LIBRARY – Workshops and lecture-demonstrations

10:00 am -10:40 am: Come From Every Way: Canadian Songs of Immigration and Survival / Anne Lederman.

10:45 am – 11:25 pm: A Scottish town in five songs / David Scott, University of the West of Scotland.

11:30 am – 12:10 pm: The Storyteller Who Stopped in the Middle: Bringing Research Present / Kira Van Deusen.

12:15 pm – 12:55 pm: Hootenanny Tonite: Pete Seeger – American Troubadour – the early years / Leo Feinstein.

1:00 pm – 1:40 pm: Orality and Poetry: Cultivating Melody, Metre, and Memory in the Storytelling Body / Shauntay Grant, University of British Columbia.

1:45 pm – 2:25 pm: One Epic, Two Traditions: A Performance of Nepalese Epic Singing / Pushpa Raj Acharya, University of Alberta.

2:30 pm – 3:10 pm: The Musical Structures in 10th Century Chinese Storytelling Performance / Pengfei Wang, University of Alberta.

3:15 pm – 3:55 pm: The Wild Woman Archetype: From Fairy Tales and Myths to Song / Rita di Ghent, York University.

PROGRAM ROOM – Presentations and Papers

10:00 am – 11:00 am: “Every force evolves a form”: the mediatization of Scotland’s bardic tradition with reference to Sorley MacLean and Hamish Henderson (paper/film screening/workshop) / Kathryn A. Burnett and Tony Grace, University of the West of Scotland.

11:00 – 11:30 am: Digital Technology and a Changing Folk Music Mediascape (paper/performance) / Wayne Hansen, University of New Brunswick, Saint John.

11:30 am – 12:00 pm: Arash the Archer: A Persian Operatic Narration (paper) / Afarin Mansouri Tehrani, York University.

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Feature Presentation: Sing as if narrating, narrate as if singing: A Literary Duet / Gary Geddes and Ann Eriksson.

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Singing and Storytelling: Creativity, Healing and Empowerment in Indigenous Communities (workshop session).
  •  Dancing in My Bones / Daya Madhur, University of Alberta
  • The Impact of Music / Donovan Shirt, iHuman Youth Society
  • Tunes and Talk: Journey of Healing / Michael MacInnis and William Herney

2:30 pm – 4:00 pm: Storytelling in Popular Song (paper presentation session)
  • Surgical Crimes: The Transhumanism of Jonathan Coulton / Todd Pettigrew, Cape Breton University
  • Tradition and Authorship in Contemporary Cowboy Songs / Gillian Turnbull, Ryerson University
  • “The day may come when the paper rolls no more”: Singing the Industrial Heritage and Legacy of Newfoundland / Janice Tulk, Cape Breton University

* * * * *

***THURSDAY October 9th 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Sydney Curling Club, 619 George Street, Sydney (downtown) - SPECIAL SESSION***

“A Life in Song and Story”

Matthew Allen’s documentary film on the life of famed traditional Irish singer Seán Ó Sé will be screened at this session, as well as a presentation from Seán Ó Sé himself. The session will conclude with a question and answer period moderated by Lillis Ó Laoire, National University of Ireland, Galway.
  • Seán Ó Sé: A Life in Song and Story / Saol Caite le hAmhrain agus Scealta (Documentary Film) / Matthew Allen, Wheaton College
  •  Abair Amhran: Say Me a Song / Seán Ó Sé
  • Lillis Ó Laoire, National University of Ireland, Galway (Moderator)