Rising Star Concert: Friday, March 27, 2009, Texas Storytelling Festival, Denton, Texas

One of the most anticipated events at the Texas Storytelling Festival is the Rising Star Concert, which features storytellers who have never before appeared on stage at a Tejas Storytelling Association event. Some of these tellers are recent imports to the state, some are well know as tellers in their area, and some have been quietly nurtured within the fold of their local storytelling guild.

Rising Stars are nominated by their local guild. This special concert will be held on Friday afternoon on the Quakertown Stage, in Hubbard Hall, on the campus of Texas Woman's University. Upholding a long standing tradition, the president of Tejas will emcee this portion of the Festival and welcome these exciting new spinners of tales. Haleluja! The new ones keep acoming! Don't miss the inaugural performance of these new tellers.

Liz Easterling: East Texas Storytellers

Liz Easterling is from Tyler, Texas. By day, she wrangles an enclave of earnest engineers. Is it any wonder, then, if she needs a creative outlet? With an Irish grandfather on one side and a Wisconsin State champion Liar on the other, it's probably destiny that led her to storytelling. Liz has been a teller for about eight years, is a member of the East Texas Storytellers Guild, and enjoys telling at the Henderson Syrup Festival, Squatty Pines Festival, church groups, libraries, and to grandchildren.

As one of this year's Rising Stars, Liz will be telling "Joe and the Carpenter," a retelling of a story in Peace Tales.

Betsy Mosier: North 40 Tellers, Richardson/Plano, Texas

Betsy Mosier is a storyteller import from California. Now living in Shady Shores, Texas, Betsy has already affiliated with the North 40 Storytelling Guild.

Betsy has been hooked on stories since hearing scary Appalachian tales at her son's Cub Scout meeting. She joined the South Coast Storytellers in California and looked for a guild when she arrived in Texas. She has worked with young storytellers in elementary schools and loves seeing stories come alive through her young students. She looks for stories that reinforce the best in all of us. She will be telling "No Ordinary Quest" in the Rising Star Concert on March 27, 2009.

Bobbee Pennington: Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley Storytelling Guild

Bobbee Pennington is from Michigan and received her first college degrees from universities in Michigan, but received graduate degrees in Library and Information Sciences from the University of North Texas in Denton. She is currently a librarian and storyteller in the Youth Services Department with the Bryan-College Station Library System. Bobbee and her husband, Jim, immigrated to the Country of Texas in 1998, when Jim began teaching at Texas A&M University. Bobbee's grown son, Justin, is following in the family tradition and is a graduate student in Library and Information Sciences at UT. Bobbee will be telling a story called "For the Children" when she makes her first appearance on stage at the Texas Storytelling Festival.

Abbie Randolph: Mesquite Storytelling Guild, Abilene, Texas

Abbie Randolph hails from Abilene, Texas and is a member of the Mesquite Storytelling Guild. Abilene has a rich tradition of storytelling and at one time claimed the largest Tellabration audience in the world. The Mesquite Guild has an active membership which embraces many forms of the teller's art, from cowboy poetry to European folktales.

Vivian Rutherford, Heart of Texas Guild, Waco, Texas

Vivian Rutherford is a librarian in Waco and a member of the Heart of Texas Storytelling Guild, the newest guild in the Tejas Storytelling Association Affiliate Guilds. A lover of African-American folktales, Vivian will be telling "The Cool Ride in the Sky," Diane Wolkstein's version of "Straighten Up and Fly." Spreading her wings in this initial flight onto a Texas Storytelling Festival Stage, Vivian is heralding not only her own first appearance, but that of her guild's, as well.

Texas Storytelling Festival, March 26 - 29, 2009

The 24th Texas Storytelling Festival is slated to begin Thursday evening, March 26, and continue through Sunday, March 29. Storytellers and audiences from many states will gather to tell and listen as the Festival brings a range of storytelling concerts and workshops guaranteed to enthrall young and old, alike.

Last year the Festival moved indoors to avoid the unpredictable spring weather of this north Texas community. The Festival is now back on the campus of Texas Woman's University, where the first Texas Storytelling Festival was held many years ago - not indoors, but outside in a small tent which did not keep out the soaking from the automatic sprinklers which erupted under folding chairs, creating havoc during one of the early storytelling concerts.

Now safely located in the ballrooms of Hubbard Hall, the Quakertown and Denton Storytelling Stages continue to bring the excitement of storytelling to aficionados. A Resource Center, located in the same building, will offer publications and audio recordings related to storytelling.