Daily Sitka Sentinel

Storyteller to Pass Craft Along to Sitka Kids

By TOM HESSE

Sentinel Staff Writer

Brett Dillingham has told tales in Thailand, spun yarns in Yorkshire and shot the breeze in Buenos Aires, but he’ll bring his stories to Sitka this June for a story-telling workshop with the Island Institute. 

Dillingham, who teaches and performs storytelling around the world, will be leading a five-day workshop for kids, working with them on how to craft, perform and appreciate a good story. 

“I think story telling is what humans do, it’s just a component of our day-to-day lives,” Dillingham said. “You see it basically everywhere.” 

And Dillingham would know, since he’s taught and led workshops on storytelling techniques on multiple continents.

He will be the visiting instructor for the Story Lab summer program that runs June 1-6. The program was started by Sally Helm and the Island Institute as another tool for helping young writers develop. Helm has led a series of after-school programs and taught writing units at each school in town. She said the summer program will cap the first year of Story Lab by adding a different perspective for approaching stories. 

“One thing we’ve been really trying to do is have non-writing events for Story Lab,” Helm said. “Our original intent was that there would be creative writing and other forms of storytelling, and we’ve done some of that over the year, but this is the biggest step we’ve taken in that direction. It’s all about telling stories out loud, and while writing will be a tool for that it’s not the end result.” 

In fact, that’s part of the reason Dillingham is so invested in the oral narrative. He said the ancillary parts of telling a good story, such as voice inflection and hand movements, make the medium more exciting. 

“Even if the story itself isn’t a great story, if it’s told really well then it’s a great experience and if it’s a great story but it’s not told well then it’s not a great experience,” he said. 

Dillingham now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but previously spent more than three decades in Juneau. He’s written a children’s book and a textbook, but is particularly interested in the way people of different cultures tell stories, and it’s something he enjoys teaching.

He says teaching stories across cultures isn’t as challenging as it sounds because everywhere you go people are telling each other stories. 

“Storytelling is so universal I don’t have to worry about the concept of a story. Every story has a beginning, a problem, a solution and an end,” he said. 

Dillingham says the trick is not to focus on the stories themselves, but the way they’re told. In that regard, it doesn’t matter if listeners can relate to the content because the focus is on the delivery.

“So every culture has that, and every culture has things that are important to them. Things that aren’t as important to me might be really important to them, and so when I do these classes in little villages in Africa or villages in Alaska they’re not getting my idea of what a story is. It’s about teaching them a framework to communicate their ideas,” Dillingham said. 

The Story Lab program touched on the oral tradition earlier this year, most notably in a podcasting unit Helm hosted at the library. 

“I think the most exciting thing that we’ve done so far has been expanding the partnerships that we’re having. I’ve been running this program with the library – this podcasting program using the teen lab equipment,” Helm said. “That’s another way that Story Lab has been teaching – not just writing – and that was solely made possible by the fact that the library has this awesome equipment for teens to use.” 

Helm said a big component of the Story Lab program has been coordinating with existing programs and teachers in the Sitka School District to expand the opportunities for young writers. She’s led units for teachers who wouldn’t otherwise have the time, and helped drive students to resources in town, such as the library’s media lab. 

“There’s a lot going on in Sitka already, and this is sort of an Island Institute thing in that the Institute sees itself kind of as a convenor, and we try to bring groups together,” Helm said. “With Story Lab that’s been especially important, because of all the arts things that are already happening, and I think this library thing is a perfect example. This resource already exists but having the people-power to make something happen is possible but easier if someone else is there. I am just people-power so I can make that happen.” 

That sort of reach has given Helm the opportunity to work with kids at every level and she’s developed an appreciation for the ways kids write at different ages. 

She said elementary school students are high-energy and seem more fascinated with how fast they can physically put words to paper than the actual craft of the story, while middle schoolers “are all writing awesome fantasy books. Magic and dragons are so cool, and that’s still cool to me, but they’re really unabashed about it at that age, which is inspiring.” 

Dillingham, too, said the enthusiasm for a compelling narrative is a big part of the reason he likes teaching these techniques. 

“Wherever I happen to be I want them to tell stories that motivate them and about places they want to be,” he said. 

The program will start with a trip to the Sheldon Jackson Museum, and Dillingham will ask the kids to think about stories behind the artifacts in the museum. He said the goal is for the students to end the week feeling more confident about sharing stories in front of people. 

“I also want them to know that they can create a story and they can tell it in a compelling way to other people. I get 100 percent of the kids I work with to not just write their story but to then tell it to people out loud, which can be a big step for some kids,” he said. 

The program is open to grades 2 through 12. Morning sessions are for grades 2 through 5, and the afternoon sessions are for grades 6 through 12.

A final performance is scheduled for June 6. The fee for the program is $125 and financial aid is available. Applications are posted on iialaska.org, and sign-up also can be done by contacting Helm at sally@iialaska.org or by calling 747-3794.