The Wrangell Mountains Storytelling Festival

August 10 & 11, 2024

McCarthy, Alaska

One night to compete… One night to celebrate!

The Wrangell Mountains Storytelling Festival seeks to catalyze local storytellers and celebrate the art of grassroots storytelling in our community.

Tall Tales Competition

Saturday, August 10

OLD HARDWARE STORE

• 4:30PM - SALMON CHOWDER FUNDRAISER

$20 for a bowl of delicious salmon chowder, cornbread and dessert. Come in, get your dinner and get settled for what’s next!

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• 5PM - KIDS HOUR!

We invite MXY/Kennicott kids (under 12) to tell your stories! Kids hour is MC’d by special guest and comedian- Jake Armstrong of Rubber Ptarmigan! Stories should be under 8 minutes. All storytellers will win a prize!

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• 6-8PM - TALL TALES COMPETITION!

We invite the first 15 storytellers to sign up to compete in the Tall Tales Competition! Sign up opens at 5:45pm! Competition will start promptly at 6pm. All stories should be under 8 minutes! $500 Winer’s Prize! Guidelines and Judge’s Criteria below.

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Stories for the Ages

SUnday, August 11

• 1-3PM - WRITING WORKSHOP W/ AUTHOR LILY TUZROYLUKE (WMC Campus)

  Held on the WMC Campus, Lily will present the workshop, Perpetuating Traditional Knowledge in Modern Writing, engaging participants in interweaving Indigenous, Traditional, Historical, and Land-Based Knowledge into modern writing.

  Lily is an Indigenous, Alaskan writer and author of Suvilluq Ancestor, an Inupiaq story. She will be signing books for sale at the event.

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• 5PM - “STORIES FOR THE AGES”: A CELEBRATION OF PLACE-BASED STORIES (Glacier View Campground)

  Held at the Glacier View Campground (serving burgers and beverages for sale), this evening is a non-competitive night where we hear from featured long-time locals as they tell stories with cultural and/or historical significance within the Wrangells. Featured storytellers include: Meg Hunt, Cynthia Shidner, Kenny and Bonnie Smith, Steve Edwards, Nancy and Sunny Cook…and more!

  With a reading from special guest, Lily Tuzroyluke and MC’d by Monte Montepare!

If you’d like to tell a story or share a reading on theme but don’t see your name on the list, there will still be time to do so- open mic style!

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Prompts and Story Ideas for tall tales competition

You know who tells the best stories? You! Consider joining the storytelling fray. You could win a cash prize or hear your story on our podcast — or just enjoy being part of the action. There’s something exhilarating, enriching, and even therapeutic when you share your story in the company of people who can’t wait to hear it.

Here are a few ideas to get ya’ thinking…

The Classic: We always love hearing your story of arriving in McCarthy. For most of us, our stories of how we made it to the Wrangells and what happened when we got here are abso-freaking-unforgettable…

The Wild: Share your wild story, which may or may not involve the wilderness…

Eros: It may be cold up here, but the audience always warms to tales of love and romance in the Far North…

Pathos: Share your most unnerving, white-knuckle travel adventure…

Logos: Tell a tale of that life-altering situation that shifted and changed your perception of yourself and the world: that moment of personal epiphany…

And The Rest Is History: We love a good historical yarn, local Kennicott-McCarthy history or a chapter from Alaskan days of yore…

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Tall Tales Competition Guidelines

1. Stories must be under 8 minutes. 5 points will be deducted for stories over 8 minutes and stories over 9 minutes will be disqualified. 

2. This event will be open to children. If your story has explicit content (drug or alcohol use, language, sex, etc) please inform Jon or Sabrina so that we can place you further down in the signup sheet for Blue Hour. Additionally, please give a trigger warning before you share so that parents have the opportunity to vacate with their children.

   PARENTS- you are responsible for vacating your children from the event during Blue Hour and after a trigger warning.

3. We do not want to censor stories, however- stories containing content that fall under these categories will not be tolerated: Hate, bigotry and/or discrimination based on gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, political leaning; Sexual harassment and/or misconduct; Nonconsensual acts of any kind.

   
   

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Judge’s Criteria

1) Meets time limit? 5 points awarded if under 8 minutes. Zero Points if over 8 minutes. Disqualified if over 9 minutes.

2) Audience rapport: To what extent was the storyteller engaging/entertaining to the audience

3) Narrative Voice/characterization: Did the storyteller stay in character? Did they have a consistent/compelling and believable voice?

4) Originality: Was the story original, surprising, not predictable? Or was it obvious, boring or cliché?

5) Presentation Skills: Was the storyteller at ease engaged with their full body and vocals? Voice projection, Body language, Body movement, Costumes and other forms of presentation, etc.

Big Thank You to our 2024 Sponsors and Storytellers

• McCarthy Tours & Outfitters: Hosting and support

• Glacier View Campground: West Side storytelling venue

• Howard Mozen: Donating salmon for the Chowder Fundraiser

• Lily Tuzroyluke: Being our full weekend special guest and providing a with a writing workshop

• Monte Montepare: MCing our Sunday night event

• Jake Armstrong and Rubber Ptarmigan: Being our Saturday night guests and MCing Kids Hour

• Cynthia Shidner: Organizing Kids Hour

• Our hard-working WMC Summer Staff for hustling to coordinate and put the events together

• And of course, big thanks to all the storytellers who participate in the event

The Stories We Share

Email sabrina@wrangells.org for more information