TEHRAN – Ten narrators from across the world will attend the 24th edition of the International Storytelling Festival to share tales from their folk cultures during the Iranian event.

Deepa Kiran, a founder of the Story Arts Foundation in India, is one of the storytellers to participate in the festival, which will take place from January 8 to 12, 2023, in Yazd. 

She is also a professional writer and educationalist, engaged with employing story arts as a pedagogical intervention, deeply impacting both the learner and the teacher.

Divya Sarkar, a member of the Mumbai Storytellers Society, will join her fellow storyteller to give her own performance, the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon, the organizer of the festival, announced on Saturday. 

She is also a phonics teacher, a special needs educator and the founder of the Word Power Activity Center.

Kenyan storytellers Grace Wangari and John Mukeni Namai will also perform at the festival. A passionate performer, Wangari infuses her stories with song, dance, tongue twisters and other dramatic arts.

Sarah Abu-Sharar, Canada’s only traditional Palestinian storyteller, has also been invited to perform at the festival

Sila Topcam will bring stories from Turkey. A performing arts graduate from Suleyman Demirel University, Topcam started to give courses on tale-telling with her team under an organization called Sila Tale School. People of all ages participate in these courses.

Suheda Sahin, a cofounder of the Dokuzlar Cemberi Storytelling Community and also an English teacher in Istanbul, will attend the event.

Argentinean storytellers Mily Ponce and Claudia Montesino, and Mauricio Patino from Colombia will give performances.

Fifteen Iranian narrators, including Mehri Khosravian, Mahmud Kharaqani, Shadi Pakzad and Mohsen Karimi, have also been selected to tell stories in the international section of the festival.

The final session of the festival is held every year in Tehran on Yalda Night, which will fall on December 21 this year, the last day of autumn, the evening of which is celebrated by Iranians as an ancient tradition. Storytelling by parents and grandparents is a key element of the celebration. 

Although this year’s festival will be organized later and in a different location, Kanoon gave no reasons for the changes.

Photo: A poster for the 24th International Storytelling Festival.

MMS/YAW