PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Christine Carlton
What a year it’s been! Over the past 12 months, the Australian Storytelling Guild (NSW) has hosted a range of vibrant activities. Thanks to the dedication of our committee, we’ve welcomed members, friends, and guests—including some from interstate and overseas—to events that offered rich opportunities for storytelling, learning, and connection.
A highlight of the year—and a major focus of our time and effort—was the:-
Weaving Stories Together: Sydney International Storytelling Conference – Vibrant Voices - Storytelling Across Generations and Cultures, held from June 6-8, along with two inspiring pre-conference masterclasses.
Attendees came from throughout Australia and International delegates who travelled from USA, Singapore, India, South Korea
Some Key elements -
Two pre-conference workshops - i) Tell It. Move It! - Alton Chung USA ii) The Cinematic Storyteller - Adam Booth USA
Keynote -Adam Booth, USA. ‘Vibrant Voices -Storytelling Across Generations and Cultures’
Guest Panel - Debbie Lee - Korea, Diane Ferlatte - USA, Roslyn Hull - ACT, Australia
Choice of 12 conference workshops:
Engaging Young Children: Using audience participation, feltboards, puppets & props .- Lee Castledine NSW
Pitch, Pace and Pause - Diane Ferlatte USA
Story Mandala – Reflective Story Circles - Holding Space with Story to Reflect, Connect and Express' - Sowmya Rajan Srinivasan. India
Spontaneous and Playful Storytelling -Christine Carlton NSW
Grave Tales - Jo Henwood - NSW
From the page to the stage - Alton Chung USA
Sing, Say, Wriggle & Rhyme!- Em Chandler VIC
The Old Becomes New: Using Archival Research For Source Material Adam Booth USA
How to Tell a Scroll Story (and Get a Little Crankie) - Jill Webster NSW
Storytilling: Finding true moments from your life that will make great stories - John Knowles NSW
Authentic Marketing for Storytellers: Building a Storytelling Brand and Marketing Yourself. Michael Patterson NSW & Dee Palanisamy VIC
Viz, Vox, and Vim! Enlivening your storytelling through the Senses.- Eth-Noh-Tec USA
Poster presentations - An interesting variety of posters dealing with oral storytelling projects and activities in different settings and contexts.
Storytelling Association (Singapore) - Mindy Neo - Singapore
Weaving stories together: connecting the fabric of life - Liz Locksley and Vibha Gulati NSW
Dr Kate Forsyth – Author/Poet/Storyteller NSW
The Story Room – Karen Sander - NSW
Here be mermaids - from bog snorkelling to Sydney Harbour - Liz Locksley NSW
Storytelling as a part of Subtext -Lillian Rodrigues-Pang NSW
Voice of Kin - helps people reconnect with their family stories. - David Webb NSW
FEAST – The Federation of Asian Storytellers -Kiran Shah-Singapore and Priti Modyiyer -VIC
Performance
One Pre-conference International Storytelling Concert in partnership Gleneaon Steiner School
Two Conference Concerts - Featured Performers from Australia, USA, Singapore, India, South Korea
Opportunities for participants to perform stories - Friday Night Soiree 5 minute stories and Story Circles
Conference Cartoonist - Simon Kneebone, Charity auction of artwork with proceeds of $694 going to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
Our Team at the conference
Judy Mitchell, Christine Greenough, Michael Patterson, Priti Modylyer, Zanette Burr, Dee Palanisamy, and the Conference Convenors - Christine Carlton and Leanne Logan
We each had our roles, but we also supported one another to make sure the conference felt welcoming and ran smoothly. From setting up the spaces, banners, the quilt, decorations, signs, and registration, to managing name tags, programs, sign up sheets, and all the little details— We coordinated with conference venue catering and outside catering for the Soirée, Masterclass Day, and Poster Session, managed finances, reset rooms, rang bells to keep us on schedule, and made sure friendly faces were always nearby to guide people to the right place. And that’s just the start!
We are also grateful to Kiran Shah and Mary Mooney who assisted on the programming committee.
The conference received great feedback, with many people appreciating its warm, professional atmosphere. It offered a rich mix of networking, skill-building, and performance opportunities.
OTHER STORYTELLING EVENTS
OUR MONTHLY ONLINE EVENTS
Inner West Story Circle
Hosted by Liz Locksley on the first Tuesday of each month.This group gathers to share ideas and explore storytelling concepts all in preparation for developing their own stories.
The Blue Mountains Story Circle,
Hosted by Kiran Shah and Jill Webster, this group continues to meet monthly via Zoom with a small but regular group of attendees (about 6-10). A platform is offered for people to share their stories and present new ones with the aim of receiving helpful feedback. The meetings have been enriched with insights and discussions reflecting the backgrounds of the culturally diverse local and international participants. There is also a dedicated number of happy listeners!
Monthly Story Swap
Hosted by Christine Carlton with tech support from Susan Ida Boucaud. This group meets on the third Wednesday of each month. Around 25 people join from various countries worldwide. Each session features a different creative theme or prompt for 6-minute prepared stories, along with breakout groups for networking, discussion, and cultural exchange. It's a wonderful opportunity to experience diverse styles and genres of oral storytelling.
- Themes for the past 12 months:
• Wisdom of the Elders,
• Hats Off!
• Stories of Kindness
• “They all saw it”
• Who knew what would happen next?
• Where is the Sun?
• Deep Water
• Ripples and Reflections
• Stories of Curiosity
• Money, Madness, Mystery
• Around the Corner
SPECIAL ONLINE STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS/EVENTS
• Visioning and Planning Day
• The Short, Short, Short Story and AGM
IN-PERSON EVENTS
Two ‘Afternoon tea and stories’ - December 2024 and February 2025
Both of these events took place at the home of member Sue Alvarez in Manly.
GRANTS SUB-COMMITTEE
This committee, initially made up of Kiran Shah, Christine Greenough, Michael Patterson, and Priti Modyiyer (with input from Jo Henwood), met sporadically. They looked for possible grant opportunities, the most recent being one specifically for seniors programs for 2026, and looking to partner with other organisations to offer our storytellers’ expertise in regional areas.
In addition, Christine Carlton and Kiran Shah assisted 2 storytelling organisations (from Kenya and Indonesia) to apply for grants to attend the Sydney International Storytelling Conference in June 2025 but unfortunately, they were not successful in receiving the grants.
PODCASTS - ‘Share Your Voice, Tell Your Story’
There have been a small number of Interviews with Australian Storytelling members that have been recorded and are yet to be uploaded to the website. Some need further editing. Thank you to Gregory Dwyer and Caroline Welkin for their assistance in recording and editing.
SPREADING THE WORD OF WHAT THE STORYTELLING GUILD OFFERS
Newsletter – Susan Ida Boucaud and I collaborate each month to produce the newsletter.
Facebook and Website – Christine Carlton, Kiran Shah, and Jill Webster have been actively sharing storytelling events on Facebook, keeping both our members and the international community informed. The platform has been a great tool for reaching a wider audience. Christine also keeps our website updated with the latest news and information.
ACCREDITATION- Congratulations to Leanne Logan, who became an Accredited Member this year. (This took place at the Storytelling Conference facilitated by Christine Greenough, our Accreditation coordinator.)
INVOLVEMENT WITH STORYTELLING FOR WIDER COMMUNITY
Some of our members have contributed their skills at other Australian storytelling events, and also a number have presented storytelling workshops for International conferences and associations such as FEAST in South Korea and online - Included Kiran Shah, Jill Webster, Jo Henwood, Christine Carlton, Liz Locksley, Dee Palanisamy, Lillian Rodrigues-Pang.
UTS - MANAGING FOR SOCIAL IMPACT COMMUNITY PARTNERS
In the subject “Managing for Social Impact”, final year undergraduate students at the UTS Business School are paired with not-for-profit organisations in a mutually beneficial partnership; students work pro bono with Shopfront community partners as part of their learning experience, while the client receives the results of the research project from the students. Our Project - *Design and implement effective marketing and social media strategies for the promotion of our conference.
This involved a face-to-face meeting with the students, then a series of online meetings concluding with an in-person final presentation.
This was managed by Christine Carlton and Priti Modyiyer, contributing to the online component, with Christine Greenough joining Christine Carlton for the final presentation by students.
THANKS TO THE ACTION COMMITTEE
I wish to thank the members of the action committee for their time and energy, and good humour in working for all the members of the Guild. –
Leanne Logan- our Vice President and Co-convenor for the Sydney International Storytelling Conference - for her support and contribution of ideas and unbounded energy in attending to all the unseen tasks at the conference.
Michael Patterson - Guild membership secretary and treasurer, who has efficiently kept our books in order and been part of the Grants sub-committee.
Dee Palanisamy - secretary - for her creative contributions to the committee and administration for the conference.
Christine Greenough - Accreditation coordinator and a member of the Conference Programming Committee and the Grants sub-committee.
Judy Mitchell - hospitality and encouraging support for our members and visitors at online events and the conference.
Susan Ida Boucaud - I’m grateful to Susan for her reliable Zoom tech support at the monthly Story Swaps and for teaming up with me each month to put together our online newsletter. Despite being all the way over in Canada, Susan continues to be a generous and committed member of our Storytelling Guild.
Priti Modyiyer - contributed an enthusiastic energy, practical approach, and attention to details at the conference, Grants sub-committee, and the UTS student project.
Zanette Burr - who has been our country liaison and contributed her creativity with decorations for the conference.
Our achievements this year have been made possible by a wonderful team, each bringing unique skills and a generous spirit of collaboration. With this strong foundation, I’m confident the Guild will continue to inspire and support both storytellers and listeners by offering rich, high-quality storytelling experiences.
Christine Carlton
President
Australian Storytelling Guild (NSW) Inc.