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St. Louis Storytelling Festival—Global Narratives
As part of the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, the Museum is hosting “Global Narratives” emceed by Nestor Gomez. Nationally renowned storytellers Charlotte Blake Alston and Alton Chung will captivate with folktales from the African and Hawaiian cultures while Justin Perez uses visual vernacular storytelling to tell imaginative and adventurous tales.
Enjoy music and a cash bar in Sculpture Hall prior to the storytelling.
The event is free, and space is limited on a first-come, first-served basis. Another St. Louis Storytelling Festival performance will take at 11 am.
About the Storytelling Festival
St. Louis County Library is hosting the 45th annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival November 13–23. The festival features a diverse lineup of nationally renowned storytellers at a variety of venues throughout the St. Louis region, as well as programs for all ages. Venues include St. Louis County Library branch locations, the Missouri History Museum, Work & Leisure, and the Mirowitz Center. All events are free and open to the public. Additional St. Louis Storytelling Festival events can be found here.
From left: Nestor Gomez, Charlotte Blake Alston, Alton Chung, and Justin Perez
About the performers
Nestor “the boss” Gomez was born in Guatemala and moved to Chicago undocumented in the mid-80s. He has won over 80 Moth Slams and several Moth Grand Slams. He is also the creator, producer, curator, and host of 80 Minutes Around the World, a storytelling show that features the stories of immigrants, their descendants, and allies.
Charlotte Blake Alston, an award-winning storyteller and performer, has graced stages in venues throughout North America and abroad for over 30 years. She has performed at venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. In 2021 she was named the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Official Storyteller, Narrator, and Host.
Alton Takiyama-Chung, a Japanese-Korean storyteller, grew up with the superstitions and the magic of the Hawaiian Islands. He tells stories of Hawaii, of the Japanese-American experience of WWII, and of Asian folktales. He has been a featured teller at the Timpanogas and the National Storytelling Festivals and at international storytelling festivals in the Cayman Islands, Singapore, India, Vietnam, and Thailand. He also is the editor-in-chief of The Story Beast, a storytelling e-publication, and a former chairman of the board of directors for National Storytelling Network, the national organization for storytellers in the US.
Justin Perez was born and raised in Houston, where he attended Texas School for the Deaf. Always fascinated by American Sign Language performance art and storytelling styles, he worked to define numerous storytelling techniques along with sign language expressions. In 2017, he won the ASL Elements national ASL competition with his fan favorite, Super Mario Kart story. He is passionate about pushing new sign language art performances and sharing them with audiences.
Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.
