Literary Activities 

All Festival Long (Thursday-Sunday) 

Say It In Six!

Can one's life be boiled down to six words?  How about a really good story?  Drop by the SLCC Community Writing Center any time during the festival to add your own half-dozen words to our Six-Word Memoir and Six-Word Fiction community writing projects!

Thursday 6/26 

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Tell Me A Story: Yarn Weavers Video Documentary

Stop in to watch a documentary video of Utah's most talented storytellers in action! Presenter: Brian Fetzer

Friday 6/27

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Tell Me A Story: Dog Tales-Brian Fetzer

Bring your kids to the CWC for an hour of engaging and lively storytelling about man's best friend.  Presenter: Brian Fetzer

2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. - Kids' Mini-Workshop: Let's Tell it Together: Writing Family Stories with Children

Bring your family to this workshop and learn how to write a multi-voiced story--grown-ups and kids together! Participants will play writing games, share ideas and experiences, and-in the end-write a story as a team.  Presenter: Chanel Earl

7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. - Kids' Reading: Phil Yeh and Cartoonists Across America

Award-winning graphic novelist and literacy activist Phil Yeh will read from his comic books, The Winged Tiger and Dinosaurs Across America, and will share ideas with kids and parents on how to tell their own stories through words and pictures.  This reading will take place in the Library's Conference Room and is sponsored by Night Flight Comics.

Saturday 6/28

1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. - Children's Storyteller - Larry Cesspooch (Whitebelly)

Bring your kids to the CWC for an hour of engaging and lively storytelling by Ute Spiritual Storyteller, Larry Cesspooch (Whitebelly). 

2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. - Kids' Mini-Workshop: Building Readers, Artists and Dreamers: Graphic Novels for Kids

Find out how to inspire children to read by drawing their own stories!  Renowned cartoonist and literacy activist Phil Yeh will teach kids how to tap into their inner artists and dreamers to create their own graphic novel.  This workshop will take place in the Library's Conference Room and is sponsored by Night Flight Comics.

Sunday 6/29

1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. - Children's Storyteller - Carol Esterreicher

Bring your kids to the CWC for a befuddling hour of wordplay and laughter with storyteller Carol Esterreicher.

2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. - Kid's Mini-workshop: Dada Poetry: Playing with Words

(Kids must be at least 6 years-old and have beginning level reading skills.)

Children will learn a lot about reading and writing by playing with randomly selected words and phrases to create their own poems. Silly words, glue sticks and glitter abound in this workshop to create the ultimate Dada masterpiece. Presenters: Maya Miro Johnson, Andrea Malouf

Presenters

Larry Cesspooch (Whitebelly)  -- Ute Spiritual Storyteller, Larry Cesspooch (Whitebelly) uses puppets and cultural objects to illustrate his Ute Stories. Cesspooch also produces films, storybooks, and plays music about his Ute culture.  - A UTAH ARTS FESTIVAL ART PARTNER

Chanel Earl is a Writing Assistant with the Community Writing Center.

Carol Esterreicher - This fascinating storyteller has developed an intimate relationship with words during her 30-year career as a speech/language pathologist in public schools. Having taught so many children to speak clearly and communicate effectively, she now delights in befuddling her audiences with the unusual effects of wordplay.

Brian Fetzer is a local storyteller, filmmaker and musician who founded the The Salt Lake Freedom Film and Storytelling Festival that focuses on entertainment with family-friendly content, live performances and films made primarily from independent artists.

Seven year-old Maya Miro Johnson began her Dada poetry experience at age three, when she and her mother began snipping creative headlines and phrases out of newspapers. Her family then began the art of crafting poems from these snippets of words and phrases. Maya is an avid reader and wordsmith, as well as a young and talented instructor of the Dada poem.

Andrea Malouf is the Assistant Director of the Community Writing Center.

Phil Yeh is the founder of Cartoonists across America which has criss-crossed the globe using artwork and humor to promote literacy through creativity and art. With the aid of students from schools and libraries, Cartoonists across America has painted more than 1600 murals.  He is featured in the new book Hometown Heroes about 50 Americans who are changing the world.