This week through Saturday, the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough is offering the opportunity to connect with resident storyteller Carolina Quiroga.
Quiroga is a new resident in more ways than one. In addition to hosting ISC’s Storytelling Live! series, she just moved to the area, relocating to Johnson City from Georgia. She also happens to be a former student at East Tennessee State University, where she earned an advanced degree in storytelling in 2013. She made her debut as a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival in 2019.
Born and raised in Colombia, where the storytelling tradition is rooted in folklore, Quiroga’s storytelling practice began with tales from her home country. But now that she has lived and worked for many years in Texas, Georgia, and East Tennessee, Quiroga has been experimenting with the more personal mode of storytelling that is common in the United States.
The newest additions to her repertoire are original stories based on her childhood with the flavor of tall tales. Quiroga points to the work of storytellers like Donald Davis, Bil Lepp, and Adam Booth as a major source of inspiration.
She feels the exaggerated details of tall tales help her connect with listeners by building a fantastical shared universe.
“I lived in Colombia for 30 years, so in some ways I don’t have the same frame of reference as many people in my audience,” she says. “But imagination is a place. Imagination is the realm where anyone can meet from wherever you are in the world, and we will understand each other.”
During her week-long residency in Jonesborough, Quiroga will share those new stories, as well as ghost stories, mythology, folklore, and traditional narratives from Latin America. All of her programs are family-friendly, with a light touch, and are designed for an all-ages audience.
Quiroga’s other recent project is the literary podcast Tres Cuentos (“Three Stories”), which she hosts in English- and Spanish-language episodes that are free and accessible online. Supported by two national grants and the Google Podcasts creator program, the English-language episodes have featured popular storytellers such as Antonio Rocha, Sheila Arnold, and Adam Booth.
Her foray into Latin American literature has led Quiroga to workshop and daydream about incorporating more literary pieces into her performances in the future. She’s currently developing a science-fiction story by a Mexican author that is a direct product of her work on the podcast — an exciting avenue to explore as she continues to build and refine her catalog.
Quiroga’s residency is the latest offering in the International Storytelling Center’s Storytelling Live! program, a seasonal concert series that brings storytellers and musicians to Jonesborough every week through the end of October.
Through the week of her residency, Quiroga will offer live concerts each day, Tuesday through Saturday, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $14 for most adults. A special one-time rate of $5 is available for first-time attendees through July.
Beginning Thursday, a concert filmed during the residency will be available online for audiences who can’t attend in person. That performance will be available online from Thursday, July 7, until the following Monday at midnight. Online tickets are just $15 per household.
The premier sponsor of Storytelling Live! is bioPURE. Additional program funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Niswonger Foundation, ETSU, East Tennessee Foundation, Humanities Tennessee, Hillhouse Creative, Carol & Bobby Frist, the Norris Family Fund, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa, and the Frist Foundation. Media sponsors include the Herald & Tribune, Johnson City Press, Kingsport Times-News, Cumulus Media, News Channel 11, WJHL 11, ABC Tri-Cities, and Daytime Tri-Cities.
The International Storytelling Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information about Storytelling Live!, including the full schedule, or to purchase tickets and season passes, visit www.storytellingcenter.net or call (800) 952-8392.
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