Westfield Memorial Library Presents MothUP storytelling event
(January 13, 2010) – On Wednesday, January 27 at 7:00 p.m., storytellers and writers will converge at the Westfield Memorial Library for a new type of storytelling event called a MothUP.
The phenomenal success of New York City's, "The Moth," has inspired this program. The Moth is an event where people get up and tell five-minute, true stories based on a particular theme. All the stories are told on in front of an audience, without notes, scripts or cheat sheets.
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The theme at the Westfield Library's event will be "Firsts": first job, first car, etc. The story that participants share should be a true, first person story.
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.
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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."
