Speak Story Series announces
2023 Story Commission recipient Diane Macklin
Congratulations to Diane! We received more than forty proposals to consider for our 2023 story commission. A panel of West Virginia artists and arts presenters used a multi-round process to select Diane’s proposal. She debuted her story Zora Unveiled: Echoes of a Cultural Muse on Tuesday September 12, 2023.
2024 Story Commission
Speak is proud to announce we will commission a second story in 2024. Details follow.
For eleven years Speak Story Series has been committed to presenting world-class storytellers and culture bearers in concert, both in Shepherdstown, West Virginia and online. Visit our current season and history to meet the nearly ninety storytellers we’ve worked with so far. For our 2024 season we will commission a storyteller (or team of storytellers working together on the same project) to create a new storytelling work of their choice and contract them to appear on our season lineup to premiere the work.
All story proposals will be considered from any genre and style of storytelling. Proposals will be accepted from any storyteller or storytelling team eligible both to work and be paid in the United States. A social security number is required.
The commission can support the creation of an original story (personal or fictional), an historical story, or development of a traditional or traditionally-learned story. While the story is not limited to the English language, the bulk of it should be in English so as to be able to reach our core audience. The exception would be a story using American Sign Language, for which we can provide an English-language interpreter.
The new story must be a minimum of twenty minutes but may run as long as sixty minutes. The new story will consist primarily of spoken storytelling (literature read aloud is ineligible), but may also incorporate singing, musical instruments, puppetry, shadow puppets, crankies, kamishibai, origami, projections, dance, or other world traditions or innovations that accompany spoken storytelling.
Story proposals may come from storytellers at any stage of accomplishment.
Timeline:
December 8, 2023 - January 7, 2024
Speak will accept story proposals. The window to submit proposals has closed.
January 15 - 31, 2024
Review panel will contact shortlisted artists to schedule a video meeting during the month of January.
by February 15, 2024
Selected artist announced
Restrictions:
Artists who are already contracted to appear on the 2024 season of Speak are ineligible for consideration. Storytellers who have appeared on seasons 1 - 11 are eligible to apply, as are storytellers who have never appeared on the Speak Story Series.
Stipulations:
The commissioned storyteller will receive $2,000 to focus on the creation of the new story and will be hired to appear on the 2024 Speak Story Series lineup for the date of November 12, 2024 at our 2024 artist rate plus lodging for two nights beginning November 11. These dates are inflexible; if you are not available to appear in person on those dates then please do not apply. The selected artist or team will give a 60-minute concert on Tuesday November 12 featuring the premiere of the commissioned story (plus additional stories if the new work runs fewer than 60 minutes), as well as an outreach program on Tuesday during the day. Note that our Tuesday night program will also be live-streamed.
Determination:
Our review panel may include members of the Speak operational team, our storytelling community, and contemporary artists outside the field of spoken storytelling. The chosen project will be one that is of interest to the Speak community and aligns with its mission, and one that will be deemed a valuable contribution to the greater storytelling community and have a life of presentation beyond the Speak premiere. The chosen project will also be one for which the artist has a clear conception and vision and is achievable within the artist’s ability and given timeline.
After receiving submissions, the panel will review proposals and determine which entries they might like to know more about. Rationale will be whether the proposal fits the mission of Speak, ideas that have been thought through (while not necessarily fully formed, they need to be more than scattered ideas or initial thoughts), feasibility, and general interest of the panel.
From that selection, the panel will look at the artists' history and determine if they will be able to complete the project, and if their skill level/experiences/ambition will likely lead to a good finished product. The panel will select a shortlist of artists for further discussion.
After conversing with those artists about their projects, the committee will discuss the merits, comforts, and concerns of each and make a selection.
Questions?
Please email Adam Booth, Founding Artistic Director at director@speakstoryseries.com and be sure to visit www.speakstoryseries.com/2024commission for updates and responses to community questions.