Celebrate the Kearney Area Storytelling Festival with national award-winning storytellers Noa Baum and Adam Booth who will be featured during the week-long festival.
- Tuesday, January 21 at 7:00 pm Noa Baum will kick-off the festival at Kearney Public Library with Stories for Families. She is an award-winning storyteller and author who presents internationally. She works with diverse audiences ranging from The World Bank and prestigious universities to inner city schools and detention centers. Born and raised in Israel, she was an actress at Jerusalem Khan Theater, studied with Uta Hagen in NYC and holds an M.A. from NYU. Noa offers a unique combination of performance art and practical workshops that focus on the power of narrative to heal across the divides of identity. In a world where peace is a challenge in the schoolyard and beyond, Noa’s work builds bridges of understanding and compassion. All ages.
- Wednesday, January 22 at 7:00 pm Noa Baum will present her one-woman show A Land Twice Promised: An Israeli Woman’s Quest for Peace for ages 12 and up. Israeli storyteller Noa Baum began a heartfelt dialogue with a Palestinian woman while living in the United States. She weaves together their memories and their mothers’ stories to create a moving testimony of the history and emotions that surround Jerusalem for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
With her animated dramatic style, Noa brings the stories to life and offers the experience of “being there”. She allows audiences to deepen their understanding of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and gain insight into its complexity and human dimension that are so often ignored and buried under the political rhetoric.
Noa Baum believes that “as long as we compete to prove that we are right we are not ready for peace. Justice looks different depending on which side you are on while peace involves the hard work of listening, compromising and staying in relationship however difficult.”
- Friday, January 24 at 10:30 a.m. Adam Booth will share Stories for Pre-schoolers and their families. His original storytelling blends traditional mountain folklore, music, and an awareness of contemporary Appalachia. A focus on craft propels his handling of story. He has been featured at the International Storytelling Center, the National Storytelling Festival, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the Appalachian Studies Association Conference, the National Storytelling Conference, and the National Academy of Medicine. He is a member of the Recording Academy and his recordings have received a Parents’ Choice Gold Award, two Parents’ Choice Silver Honors, and five Storytelling World Awards and Honors. He is a four-time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest.
The Storytelling Festival final showcase will be January 25 at Kearney Public Library. The showcase will feature National Storytellers Noa Baum and Adam Booth as well as local tellers, Judi Sickler and Bryce Jensen. There will be storytelling for all ages with sessions at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. See you at the Kearney Public Library, 2020 1st Avenue, for stories and more!