In this episode, I catch up with Dawne McFarlane, Artistic Director of the Toronto Storytelling Festival. Dawne discusses how festivals provide leadership in promoting a global culture of respect and gratitude through the art of storytelling. Festivals are one of the places where diverse people meet up and can find common ground. Dawne shares how she approached organising a rich and diverse festival around the theme of ‘Listening to the Voices of Nature’ during a time of lockdown. Listening, she argues, is a important as speaking in the art of storytelling. Indigenous artists were at the heart of this festival and Dawne shares the role that traditional tales and elders can play in helping the world to transform to a more holistic worldview.
Dawne shares an Irish story, The Daughter of the Fairy Queen, from Sybil Alexander’s Stories Around the Peat Fire
You can find the Toronto Storytelling Festival here: https://torontostorytellingfestival.ca/2021/
Dawne’s page is here: https://www.dawnemcfarlane.ca/
Some of Kahontakwas Diane Longboat’s work can be found here: https://www.soulofthemother.org/
Diane Beresford-Kroeger’s bioplan can be found here: https://dianaberesford-kroeger.com/
Restorying the Earth 