Storytelling on Zoom with Richard

Richard Van Camp - proud Tłı̨chǫ Dene writer from Fort Smith, NWT - came recomended as a storyteller who had mad skills to share. (Thanks for the tip Kyle !) And so…as part of the Nuxalk Audio Workshop… Our World invited Richard to conduct two online workshops.

The first workshop (Short Story Writing) was on Monday April 19th and we had a sweet group of artists working on various writing projects for their diverse art practices! it was a lively discussion with Richard sharing his journey and tips on building character, mining your own experiences responsibly and considering dialogue. Richard also sent everyone tons of cool documents like: Indigenous Literature List, Fort Smith Elder Quotes and a collection of stories from Elders all across Canada! He also welcomed everyone to email him personally with their writing! Thanks Richard!

The next workshop (Oral Storytelling) was held on Monday April 26th and everyone attending was welcome to share a story! We had returning participants as well as two folks from Bella Coola. Evangeline had just completed her radio story that had Raven featuring prominently and she connected with Trudy who has been sharing the story of Raven with her students (and has created incredible Raven felted puppets)…perhaps there is a collaboration in the future? Meetings such as this (even online) are all about making connections. Larissa is continuing on her own personal story about the mixed race experience and incredibly powerful family stories. Richard told a personal story about his family that was magical and meandering and encompassed decades, all flowing with love and loss and humour.

Oral stories have the power to teach and guide us. The idea of finding yourself with a group of people and then a story presents itself to be told …it can’t be planned…it just happens… and it is magic.

Mahsi Cho/Thanks so much Richard!