National Association of Black Storytellers Concerts

“Black is not monolithic,” notes Caroliese Frink Reed, director of the National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference. “It encompasses a number of traditions: folk tales, historical tales, and personal stories.” The range of topics in the festival’s three public storytelling concerts in Cary extend from historical accounts of the Great Dismal Swamp, an unlikely place of refuge where escaped slaves found freedom, to stories from the Moral Monday marches. The “In the Tradition” storytelling concert (Friday, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m.) features cross-cultural storyteller Donna Washington, explorations of Jaliya tradition with Karen “Queen Nur” Abdul-Malik, and the contemporary stories of Atlanta’s Ernestine Brown. Saturday afternoon brings tall-tales competitions (1:45 and 2:45 p.m.), and Saturday night’s 8:00 p.m. concert honors anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, including contributions from North Carolina storyteller Mitch Capel and Dylan Pritchard, whose work is performed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. These events are individually ticketed at $15; other workshops, panels, and performances are available to daily and festival pass-holders.