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Nungambakkam, Chennai (PhD in Folklore, MSc in Psychology), 98403 94282, 044 4005 5027 Welcome! _________________________ (the world's
first map of professional storytellers _________________________ Upcoming
Events (May 2025
onward) via Zoom
Videoconference and in Chennai 1)
Course in Story and Storytelling. 8-month course, via Zoom. Upcoming edition: June 2025 to Jan 2026. Course info is here. 2)
One-on-one Training in "Storytelling Therapy." This process includes the trainee undergoing
Storytelling Therapy. That is, one learns
this method in-part by undergoing it oneself. 8 weekly (60-minute) one-on-one sessions. Days and times to be arranged. Via Zoom, or at Dr Eric's office near Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai. Reviews of this training are here. The process provides: 1) Training in "Storytelling
Therapy" – which can be used for Counselling, Life Coaching, Personality
Development, etc. 2) Counselling and Life Coaching
utilising Storytelling Therapy. 3) Coaching in Story Composition
(Creative Writing), because composing a Healing / Transforming story for
oneself is an essential part of the Storytelling Therapy process. The Storytelling Therapy method has 8 steps: 1) Tell one's "Life story". 2) The listener may share similar
experiences. 3) Identify turning points, outstanding
elements, and themes in one's Life story. 4) Seek to bring to mind metaphors for
aspects of one's Life story. 5) Gather "Associative stories" in
relation to each of the identified themes in one's Life story. 6) Add to and otherwise modify any of the
above-mentioned stories. 7) Speak to and as characters in one's memory
and imagination. 8) Compose a "Healing story"
(and/or an "Inspiring / Encouraging / Guiding / Integrating /
Transforming story".) As part of Step No. 7 ("Speak to and as
characters in one's memory and imagination"), the "Active
Imagination" technique that was first developed by Carl Jung would
be used. Storytelling Therapy involves ways to use
stories, and the process of storytelling, to increase people's feelings of
well-being. The kinds of stories used in the
Storytelling Therapy process include Animal Fables; Fairytales; episodes of
Epics; Stories from participants' favorite Movies, Plays, and Novels;
Historical Stories; Personal-experience Stories; and Original Creative
stories. Fairytale Therapy, one type of Storytelling Therapy, would be a part of this training. Trainees are encouraged to work
especially with traditional stories from their own cultures. The Storytelling Therapy
process includes looking at traditional stories in one's own culture for
characters and situations that could serve as metaphors for one's
psychological tendencies. Why should
such metaphors appear only in the form of characters from ancient Greece
(Oedipus, Narcissus, Eros, the Furies, etc)?
More about this approach is here. This training is given by Dr Eric
Miller. Dr Eric's Education: * MSc in
Psychology, U. of Madras (2018). * PhD
in Folklore, U. of Pennsylvania (2010). *
One-year Course in Counselling,
Chennai Counsellors Foundation (2016). *
Six-week Course in Life Coaching,
Soul Symphony (based in Chennai) (2020). From 2017 to 2020, Dr Eric taught this
material in a group Course, 3 times each year. A Poster about the Course is here. Now Dr Eric gives this training one-on-one. No previous training is required. Training Fee: Rs 24,000. (For eight weekly one-on-one 60-minute
sessions.) If possibly interested, please contact Dr
Eric. Contact info and additional info about this
training is here. 3)
"Storytelling by and for Adults" monthly series. This is an open-mic storytelling series via
Zoom (on the first Monday of each month, starting at 6pm India time). Admission is
free. The upcoming Session is scheduled for Monday 2nd
June 2025: the program is here. Links to 275 recordings of tellings (and discussions)
in our sessions from July 2020 to the present are here. The themes for tellings in this series in May
2025 to January 2026 are, "Growing, Maturing, and Transforming" and/or "Environments – Natural or
Otherwise". Encouraged: Dialogue between characters, and
between inclinations within a single character. If you have already attended a session of
this series, you are registered and would receive the Zoom links via email.
If you have not yet attended a session in the series – To register, please send an email. If you might like
to tell a story in this series, also please send an email. Contact: info@storytellinginstitute.org Facilitated by Dr Eric,
WSI Director. For the first seven years of this series (beginning in 2013) this series occurred in a Cafe Coffee Day in Chennai. From April 2020 it has occurred via Zoom
videoconference. 4)
"Creative Writing" Coaching for
Teenagers and Adults. Facilitated by Dr Eric,
WSI Director. Info is here. *** *** Additional
Storytelling Workshops for Adults Date and Location: By request. Trainer: Dr Eric, WSI Director "Developing
a Culture of Partnership", 2-day
or 3-day Storytelling Workshop for Adults. 1) Storytelling. 2) Storytelling for Coaching and Counselling (Personality development, Self-actualisation,
Fulfilling one's potential, etc) 3) Storytelling for Teaching and Learning
Languages, and any other academic subject.
1) Educators, 2) Parents, 3) Parents and Children together (Family Storytelling Workshops), 5) Psychological Counsellors, 6) Soft / Life / Communication Skills
Trainers. 7) Members of Communities or
Organisations. These Workshops could include video recording
and playback for study purposes. Using
Videoconferencing to Give Storytelling Training for Adults. Info is here.
Psychodrama and Storytelling Workshops Presented by the Indian Institute of Psychodrama, in association with the World Storytelling Institute. Trainers: Ms
Magdalene Jeyarathnam (Psychodrama),
Dr
Eric Miller (Story). July
2024 "Psychodrama and Fairytales" (3-Day
Workshop), in Chennai. Workshop info is here. March 2024 "Story and Psychodrama", in New Delhi. Workshop info is here. Sept 2023 "Fairytales and Psychodrama: Discovering the Stories
Within". Workshop info is here. June 2021 "Exploring Fairytales through Psychodrama". Workshop info is here. The fairytales and commentaries we worked
with are here. Traditional stories of any culture can be worked with in these
workshops. Our Workshop on "Stories and Their Applications in Psychology,
Personality, and Career Development – and Psychodrama" is described here. Recent Activities Feb 2025 Chennai Storytelling
Festival 2025 (the 13th annual edition). 27 Oct 2024 "Ways of Making-up Stories" (11
minutes), video
by WSI Director Dr Eric. 18 Oct 2024 Here are notes for
Dr Eric's talk on "Ways of Using Storytelling and Drama for
Teaching and Learning" at the National CBSE
Conference on Arts Integration in Education in Madurai. August 2023 -
Present Dr
Eric is Dean of Rojavanam International School (RIS), in Nagarcoil, Tamil
Nadu, India. The
Dean's Message is here. RIS is especially a school for "Intelligent Talk",
which includes – The
Art of Conversation, Public Speaking (Speech-Making), Debating, and Storytelling with Discussion. We are helping our students to develop their Oracy as well their
Literacy abilities. We believe students "Learn through Speaking". ––– Here are some topics for RIS student debates
and speeches. ––– RIS is a CBSE School admitting students in Stds KG to 11. RIS will soon be offering a Room and Board
option for students in Stds 7-11. ––– The outline (with links) of a 3-day training in "Ways
of Using Storytelling and Other Forms of Verbal
Communication for Teaching-and-Learning" ––– Recent Speeches at RIS by Dean Dr Eric: 1)
The text of Dr Eric's Pongal speech (relating to 2)
The video recording of his Annual Day speech (2 minutes), 3)
The text of his KG Graduation speech (mentioning teaching- 4) The text of his speech for the inauguration of RIS'
"Artificial 5)
The text of his speech for the inauguration of RIS' "Eco Club", ––– Onam Welcome Video on 29 Aug 2023. 2-25 Feb 2024 Chennai Storytelling Festival 2024 (12th annual edition). Theme: "Personal Growing and Maturing (and Community Growing and
Maturing)". Recordings
of some CSF 2024 sessions. One event in CSF 2024 was Dr. Eric's 8-session Workshop on "Story
Composition, involving Dramatic Structure and Character Development". Links to typed notes, and recordings of all
of the sessions are here. 12 Oct 2023 WSI Director
Dr Eric gave a talk on "Ethnographic Videoconferencing" at the 2023
Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society (via Zoom). A transcript of this talk is here. July 2023 50 Traditional Stories (typed in English). Links to the
stories – including Panchatantra stories, Jataka tales, Aesop's
fables, and Fairytales – are here. WSI
Director Dr Eric has collected and lightly-copy-edited (primarily for the
sake of naturalness of language) these versions of the stories. June 2023 "Words from the Forest" movie project. "Words
from the Forest" is the title of a screenplay WSI Director Dr Eric has
written for a fictional feature movie which would be shot mostly (in English)
in the forest mountains of southwestern Tamil Nadu. A summary of the screenplay is here. June 2023 Chennai Storytelling Map. WSI Director
Dr Eric (co-facilitator of the Indian
Storytelling Network and member of the Chennai
Storytellers group) and team have created a map of Professional
Storytellers in Chennai. * The Chennai Storytelling Map is here. * Lists of Neighborhoods and Storytellers on the Map are here. 3rd to 26th Feb 2023 (on Fridays,
Saturdays, and Sundays). Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2023. This was the
Festival's 11th annual edition. All
Free! All Zoom! Links to recordings of some of the Festival's
Storytellings and Workshops are here. The
("clickable") CSF 2023 poster
is here. The Festival's 65 workshops are listed here. The Festival's 102 presenters are listed here. The list of
presenters, with timings
and session descriptions,
is here. The Festival
schedule (in India time) is here. Overall info about
the Festival is here. 15th and 18th Nov 2022 Dr Eric participated in two events that
were hosted by Martin Luther Christian University (in Shillong,
Meghalaya, northeast India). These
events were parts of the University's "Folklore Week", and India's
"Tribal Week" (both 15th-18th Nov 2022). He gave a keynote address titled "Definitions of Folklore, the History of Folklore
Studies, and the Concept of the Living Museum" in a Folklore
Seminar, and led a Storytelling Therapy workshop. The abstract of the transcript of the
Storytelling Therapy workshop is: Characters in Khasi (Tribal) traditional
stories could serve as metaphors for psychological tendencies -- just as
Sigmund Freud and other founders of psycho-analysis have utilised characters
in traditional stories from ancient Greece (and ancient Rome) in this way. 10th Oct 2022 (World Mental Health Day) The theme of
World Mental Health Day this year is, “Let's make mental health and
well-being for all a global priority.”
In honour of the occasion, at Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed
College in Chennai, East West Center for Counselling and
Training's Director Ms Magdalene Jeyarathnam gave a presentation on
Expressive Arts Therapy, and Assistant Director Dr Eric gave a presentation
on Storytelling Therapy. A photo is here. 8th Oct 2022 Dr Eric gave
an interactive talk relating to Storytelling Therapy for the Thunai community. The recording is here. Storytelling Therapy, as taught by
Dr Eric, is one module in the 12th annual edition of the one-year Diploma
Course in Expressive Arts Therapy, offered by the East West
Center for Counselling and Training, and the Psychology Dept of Women's
Christian College, in Chennai, beginning in Dec 2022 -- the flyer is here. Dr Eric also gives this training
one-on-one via Zoom. 19th to 26th Sept 2022 Dr Eric did a
7-day teaching/training residency at KPR College of Arts, Science, and
Research (in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu). The topics
were: 1) Exploring One's Identity. 2) Storytelling and Creative Writing. 3) Work-related Writing and Speaking. 4) Psychology, Wellness, and Life Skills. 5) Classroom Psychology. 6) Organisational Psychology. Some of Dr Eric's
teaching/training material is here. A
selfie-photo taken after a 3-hour session with 400 students is here. 18th June 2022 Dr Eric gave a
talk on "Uses of Educational Technology" (via Zoom, 8 minutes). The video recording is here. A transcription of the talk
is here. 6th May 2022 Dr Eric gave a
talk on "Researching and Rethinking Folklore,
Communication, and Kannagi" (via Zoom) for people at the Dept. of Media and
Communication, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, and others. A transcription of the talk is here. Feb 2022 Chennai Storytelling Festival 2022. Info is here. The poster is here. Recordings of some of the sessions are here. 29th May to 27th June 2021 "Exploring Fairytales through Psychodrama"
Workshop. The stories we worked with are listed here. Ten three-hour sessions, on Saturdays and
Sundays. Via Zoom videoconference. Facilitated by 1) Ms. Magdalene Jeyarathnam (PhD in-process),
Director, Indian Institute of Psychodrama. 2) Dr. Eric Miller, Director, World Storytelling Institute. Feb
2021 Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2021. The Healing Power of Story, Storytelling, and Story-enacting." The 9th annual edition of the Festival. Over 108 hours of (FREE) Zoom Storytelling
Performances, Workshops, and more! Festival Overview. Festival Poster. Festival Schedule. Festival
Video Library. July-Oct
2020 Dr Eric tells and talks! Four video recordings: 1) Storytelling -- "Two Tamil Stories about Wives Who Tried to Bring Their Husbands Back to Life" (an epic and a folktale) (7 minutes). 2) Storytelling -- Dr Eric Miller have a conversation" (an original creative story by Eric Miller) (10 minutes). 3) Talk -- "Using Storytelling
to Improve Mental Health," on World Mental Health Day (10th Oct 2020) (10 minutes). 4) Interview -- Health O Mind (based in Bangalore) presents "An Interview with Dr Eric Miller on Storytelling Therapy" (17th Oct 2020) (60 minutes). 16th-17th
May 2020 "Virtual
Storytelling Conference: Storytelling
in a World Shaped by Coronavirus-19." --- This Conference went for 24 hours -- starting on Saturday 16th May, 9am Eastern USA time / 6:30pm India time. --- Recordings of parts of the Conference. --- The Conference was presented by the World Storytelling Institute, in association with the USA's National Storytelling Network, and others. --- --- --- --- Links to "Greetings to the
Conference" from numerous people are here. --- This was a free event, being done as Public
Service. Via Zoom. 7th-16th
Feb 2020 Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2020, the
Festival's 8th annual edition. "Storytelling for Creativity, Teaching, Training,
and Healing". Performances,
Workshops, and a
Seminar. --- Some documentation of CSF 2020 is here. --- 1) Festival poster. 3) Festival
introduction and overview. 5) Laura's
Storytelling class for adults -- timings. 6) Laura's
Storytelling class for adults -- topics. 7) Laura tells for children, Sun 9 Feb, 11am. 8) Laura tells for adults, Thurs 13 Feb, 6pm. 9) 35
Storytellers in 5 programs (English). 10) 10 Storytellers in 1 program (Tamil). 11) "Storytelling
for Teaching Languages" Workshop. 12) "Storytelling
for Counselling and Coaching" Workshop. 13) "Storytelling
for Teaching Various Subjects" Seminar. 14) 2
events one could attend via videoconference. 15) List of CSF 2020 ticketed
events. 16) Payment
options. July
2019 WSI Director Dr Eric gave a 90-minute
interactive talk to 800 students as part of their college orientation process.
His talk notes are here. *** Also recently, Dr Eric offered a "Storytelling-theatre Workshop for
Teenagers". The Workshop
description is here. 22
July 2019 Dr Eric founded the Storytelling Therapy Association of India. April
2019 The World Storytelling Institute's Contents: *** 1) Documentation of Chennai Storytelling Festival 2019 (1-10 Feb 2019) -- Links to Photos and Video
recordings. *** 2) Preview of Chennai Storytelling Festival 2020 (7-16 Feb 2020) -- This would be the
Festival's 8th Edition, and the Festival's "College Edition". *** 3) Available: Psychological Counselling using methods of Storytelling Therapy. Feb
2019 Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2019. Documentation of CSF 2019 (1-10 Feb 2019) --
and a preview of CSF 2020 (7-16 Feb 2020) -- are here. Dec
2018 A photo taken after a recent day-long
workshop on "Using Storytelling
and other Verbal Arts -- including Rhymes, Puns, and Melodic and Rhythmic
Speech -- to Teach English Language" conducted by WSI director Dr
Eric at the English Dept of the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is here. 10
April 2018 "Storytelling
Workshop on Rhythm, Melody, and Rhyme in Speech; and on Rhythm in Movement",
conducted by Dr Eric, WSI Director.
Workshop details are here. 2 to
11 Feb 2018 Chennai Storytelling Festival 2018. This was the 6th annual edition of
CSF. Info about all 6 editions of the
CSF is here. Nov 2017 A Case
Study of a client of a participant in Dr Eric's Storytelling Therapy videoconference course (Fall 2017
edition), including the Healing Story: "Budur and the Moon Rabbit." All written primarily by the participant
and her client. 15 Oct
2017 On this day, Dr Eric began conducting a
10-session Workshop for Teenagers on Creative Writing and Storytelling,
plus tips on Study Skills and Writing Research Essays. The Workshop handout consisted of these
four files: 1) Notes
on Creative Writing and Storytelling. 3) Study
Skills: Writing Notes and Preparing for Exams. Incidentally, links to essays relating to Storytelling for
Teaching-and-learning are here. 13
Sept 2017 Dr Eric began teaching a 13-session Course on
Storytelling
Therapy via videoconference.
This Course is occurring during the Fall 2017 semester
(Sept-Dec). It would also be offered
during the Spring 2018 semester (Jan-April).
The Course is described here. Course
readings are here. 27 Aug
2017 The 10th Annual "Living Statues of
Marina Beach" Walking Tour. Photos are here and here. Additional info about the event, including
the suggested scripts (in English), is here. The Poster is here. 26 Aug
2017, onward. Dr Eric began conducting a Workshop on Storytelling
for Tamil Parents Living around the World, via videoconference. 6 weekly sessions (90-minutes per
session). A focus is on assisting
participants to inspire their children to learn about Tamil culture and
language through stories and storytelling. (The Workshop is occuring mostly
in English language.) 15 to
17 Feb 2017 Annual International Conference on
Expressive Arts Therapy presented by the Psychology Dept of
Women's Christian College, Chennai; and the East West Center for Counselling
and Training, Chennai (First edition)
-- Participation by Dr Eric Miller (Director,
World Storytelling Institute; and Assistant Director, East West Center for
Counselling and Training) included: 1) Handout
for the full-day Pre-conference Workshop on "Storytelling for
Self-Development". 2) Conference Inaugural
Address. 3) Notes
for a presentation on storytelling in the Panel on Self Discovery through Expressive Arts for Human Resource
Development. 4) Notes
for a presentation of his paper, "Story and Storytelling in Storytelling
Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy". 5) "Story
and Storytelling in Storytelling Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy", paper published in the Conference
proceedings. 3 to
12 Feb 2017 Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2017.
Festival info -- including the Festival schedule, and links to photos
of performances -- is here. 2 Oct
2016 The WSI hosted a Workshop on "Using Fairytale and Myth in
Drama-and-Movement Therapy".
The Workshop is described here. A review of the Workshop is here. 28
August 2016 Some photos of the 9th Annual "Living Statues of Marina Beach" Walking Tour are
here. The
Walk features brief dramatic enactments -- in Tamil and English -- of 6
statues. The suggested scripts (in
English) are here. The
Walk is facilitated by the WSI, and this year's edition was an event in Madras Week 2016. May
2016 A list of Storytelling Instructors in Summer
Camps in Chennai is here. An
article about this is here. 2 May
2016 Storytelling
by and for Adults. At Café Coffee Day Square, Chennai. A description of the series is here. Links to 5 articles about these events are here. Some of the topics have been: * August 2016, "It happened in Chennai". * July 2016, "Things one loves to do". * June 2016, "Patience is a virtue ... sometimes". * May 2016, "The importance of gentleness". * April 2016, "The straw that broke the camel's back". * Aug 2014, "The moment I decided to live in Chennai" (an event in Madras
Week 2014). A photo is here. * July 2014,"A dream come true". * June 2014, "An eye-opening experience". * March 2014, "Real-life adventure stories". * Feb 2014, "I made it look easy". * Jan 2014, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again". * Dec 2013, "The best gift I ever gave or received". * Nov 2013, "The day I became human".
Photos are here. April 2016 The WSI collaborated with The
Paintbox (a team of painters) and local people, to paint a mural on a
wall near WSI headquarters. The title
of the mural is "Art Gallery in a Jungle". Images of the mural are here. 9
February 2016 (going back to 1999) Online
recordings of videoconferences co-facilitated by WSI director Dr Eric. 5-14
February 2016 Info about Chennai Storytelling Festival 2016 is here. (Info about the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017
editions of the Festival is also there.) Approximately 35 people led Storytelling
Workshops in CSF 2016. Guidelines for
leading a basic "Storytelling Workshop" are here. A list of 20 "Storytelling Workshop
Activities" is here. November
2015 "Storytelling Therapy" Workshop in
New Delhi, at Children First. For the
Flier, please click here. For an
essay (4 pages) on the topic, please click here.
June
2015 The WSI's "Storytelling in Schools (and
Colleges)" initiative is described here. Links to articles providing evidence that
storytelling activities can help students to improve their general academic
abilities are here. Included on this webpage are links to Dr
Eric's essays, "Ways
Storytelling Can Be Used for Teaching-and-Learning", and "Ways
Verbal Play such as Storytelling and Word-games Can Be Used for
Teaching-and-learning Languages". 20
March 2015 World Storytelling Day 2015 was celebrated in
Chennai at the University of Madras.
15 Storytellers (members of the Chennai
Storytellers) told on this year's theme, which was
"wishes". The event was supported
by the WSI, and WSI director Dr Eric also performed. A photo of the event is here (Aparna Ashwin is the teller in this photo). 4-15
Feb 2015 Info about Chennai Storytelling Festival 2015, "Storytelling
for Teaching and Training" (4-15 Feb 2015) -- and all three editions of
the Chennai Storytelling Festival -- is here. The WSI founded, and has been the leading presenter
of, the Chennai Storytelling Festival. The theme of CSF 2016 is "Storytelling and Inter-cultural
Communication". Travel.
Tourism. Translation. Journey
and Path as metaphors. Visiting other lands and worlds. Discovery and Exploration of the other, and
of the self. 24 Aug
2014 Seventh Annual "Living Statues of Marina Beach" Walking
Tour (an event in Madras
Week). Brief Dramatic
Enactments of 8 Statues (in English and Tamil): Kannagi, NSC Bose,
Thiruvalluvar, GU Pope, Bharathidasan,
Avvaiyar, Subramania Bharathi, and Mahatma Gandhi. Photo
is here. Info
(including the scripts in English) is here. 20
March 2014 (World Storytelling Day) Videoconference
on Dragons and Monsters. Info about, and a link to a recording of,
this videoconference is here. 7-9
Feb 2014 Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2014, Storytelling and Healing (Storytelling as a Healing Art). The Poster is here. Additional info is here.
Photos are here. Links to recordings of webcasts of Workshops
(some featuring videoconferences) are here.
An article in The Hindu is here. 6 Jan
2014 Videoconference
on Storytelling and Healing. Info about, and a link to a recording of,
this videoconference is here. 4 Oct
2013 Ethnographic Videoconference between 11th
Standard students in Chennai, and in Burlington, Wisconsin, USA. The students discussed their identities in
terms of their uses of language, etc.
A link to a recording of the videoconference, and additional info
about the event, are here. 28
Sept 2013 Kaani
Tribal Storytelling Festival, Language, Culture, and Nature. Location: Pechiparai, Kanyakumari district,
Tamil Nadu. The Poster is here. Additional info is here. A Kaani folk tale is here. Links to photos of Kaani people, etc, are here. Ideas regarding developing tribal cultures
are here. An
article on the Festival is here. Festival photos coming soon. 20
Sept 2013 WSI Director Dr Eric delivered the Inaugural
Address at the 3rd International Meeting of the Kanyakumari Academy of Arts
and Sciences, in Nagercoil. The text
of the Address, titled "The Value of the Multi-Discipline Approach to Research",
is here. Aug
2013 Storytelling
about Beach and Ocean Eco-Systems. At numerous locations in Chennai. The poster is here. Additional info is here. 15-26
April 2013 A report written by two teenage
Storytelling-Instructor Trainees regarding the April 2013 WSI Storytelling
Summer Camp for Children (ages 6-years-and-above) they attended is here.
13-15
April 2013 Three-Day
Workshop for Adults in Storytelling and Healing, also
known as Storytelling Therapy, and Therapeutic Uses of Storytelling. Presented by the WSI and the East-West
Center for Counselling.
Especially for people who work in NGOs and in fields involving caring
for people and helping them to grow and heal.
Some introductory words about Storytelling Therapy are here, and additional information about the
Workshop is here. 8
March 2013 WSI Director Dr Eric co-presented a paper
entitled, "Tribal Peoples as
Leaders of Society in a Future in which Fossil Fuels might be Scarce, with
Special Reference to the Kani Tribal People of South India", at the
National Conference on "Tribal Literature: Across Continents and
Cultures", at V. O. Chidambaram College, in Thoothukudi, Tamil
Nadu. The Handout is here.
Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2013 -- Teaching and Learning about
Storytelling. Here
is the Poster (with schedule). Here
is the Brochure. Here
is the Announcement (with photo). Here
are additional details. Here
is info about the Storytelling Performance on Fri 1 Feb, at 5:30pm. Here is info about
the Post-Festival Field-trip to Thanjavur. Articles on the Festival: 1) "The
Tale Trail", Indian Express. 2) "Nurturing the Art of Spinning a Yarn", The Hindu. 3) "Pictures
in Your Mind", Deccan
Chronicle. 4) "How
to Spin a Yarn", Deccan
Chronicle. 5) "Telling
Tales", Indian Express. Articles on the Post-Festival Field-trip to Thanjavur: 1) "Timeless Tales", The Hindu. 2) "Thanjavur Tales,
Made in Chennai",
Indian Express. 3) "Is Indian Storytelling a Dying Art?", BBC Online. 4) "Indian
Storytellers Struggle to Keep Traditon Alive", Deutsche Welle (an international
news service based in Germany). Aug-Nov
2012 WSI Director Dr Eric recently taught a course
in Creative Writing at the IIT-Madras.
Related recent academic activities in which Dr Eric has been involved
are: --- 1) Videoconference between students at
IIT-Madras, and American University in Cairo (AUC). In AUC'
s Global South Dialogue
Course. Session topic: "Everyday Creativity: 'Indian' and 'Egyptian' Ways of Doing Things". Wed 24 Oct.
The handout is here. A
recording of the videoconference (which was also webcast) is here . --- 2) Talk on "Story Composing, Writing, and Telling; and Creativity in
General". At the English
Dept, Annamalai University,
Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, Tues
18 Sept. Links to Speaking notes and
related files are here. --- 3) Talk on "The Story-making Process of the Human Mind". At the Conference
on Enriching the Connection between Literature and Life, Periyar
University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, Tues 4 Sept.
Speaking notes are here. --- 4) Talk on "Applying Principles of 'Conversation Analysis' to the
Facilitation of Student-Participation in Classroom Discussions". At the Teaching-and-Learning Center,
IIT-Madras, Thurs 23 Aug. The Handout
is here.
Speaking notes are here. Links to writings on Conversation Analysis,
and Collaborative Teaching-and-Learning, are here.
--- 5) Workshop in "Science Fiction Story Writing and Telling". At the 13th National Science Fiction Conference, at Bharathiyar University,
in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Fri 20 Jan.
An article on the session is here. 21 Oct
2012 Storytelling Performances by Members of the
Chennai Storytelling Association at Oxford Bookstore (Haddows Road,
Nungambakkam): "Storytelling about Families", with Special Guest
Storyteller from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Steafan Hannigan. Our other recent Storytelling Performances at
this venue have included, "Stories about Language, Words, and
Stories" (Sept
2012). "Living Beside the Sea" (August 2012). "Friendship" (July 2012). "Heroic Animals in Folk Legends" (June 2012). "Strong and Active Heroines in Fairy
Tales"
(April 2012). "Honesty and other Civic Virtues" (Feb 2012). "Recycling and Eco-systems" (Jan 2012). "Christmas Storytelling" (Dec 2011). 21-23
July 2012 Tuesday 29 May 2012 Chennai
Storytelling Association The Chennai Storytelling Association began in
Nov 2010. There are now approx 200
members. Many have attended
multi-session WSI Storytelling Workshops. 1) The development of lesson plans for
training adults and children in the art of storytelling (in English and
Tamil). 4) Monthly sessions of personal-experience
storytelling (for and by adults), open to the general public. Presently, these sessions are occurring at
a Cafe Coffee Day. Info about these
events is here. *** Ongoing activities by CSA members include: 1) Vasugi Ram Manohar directs Madras Story Works in Egmore (98401
18590). Storytelling for children each
Saturday at 11am. Info is here.
2) Asha Sampath directs Tale Spin in Anna Nagar (98408 33953). Storytelling on one Saturday afternoon each
month. Info is here. 3) Kavitha Thyagarajan and Debjani Bhaduri
direct Once Upon a Time in RA
Puram (99400 36390 and 98402 76914). Info
is here. 4) Sheetal Rayathatha directs Square Heads (Phonics and
Storytelling) in Kilpauk (98400 91290).
Info is here. 5) Sandhya Rubens directs Eloquens (Soft-skills training,
Storytelling, etc) in Ayanavaram (98401 77215). Info is here. 7) Magdalene Jeyarathnam directs the East-West Center for Counselling and
Training in Nungambakkam and Kilpauk (98841 00135). The EWCFCT provides Expressive Arts Therapy
(including Therapeutic Uses of Storytelling) for children and adults, and
also provides training in Expressive Arts Therapy. Info is here. *** For additional info about the Chennai
Storytelling Association, please call 98403 94282. About the WSI Additional
Storytelling-related Information Press 93 "Dr.
Eric Miller – The Man Behind the Chennai Storytelling Festival", by
R.V. Rajan, Madras Musings, 16-31
March 2024. 92 "Tell-tale
Traditions", by Sangita Rajan, The
Hindu, 8 Feb 2024, Metro Plus, page 2. Relating to Chennai Storytelling
Festival 2024 91 "Bringing the World Closer with a Bagful of Stories",
DTNext, 12th Feb 2020. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2020. 90 "The Power of Imagination", The
Hindu, Metro Plus section, page 3, 10th
Feb 2020. Relating to Chennai Storytelling
Festival 2020. 89 "A Teaching and Learning Fest", The Hindu, Downtown section (Mylapore,
Chennai), page 1, 2 Feb 2020. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2020. 88 "Eighth Edition
of CSF to be Held", Indian
Express, City Express section, 18 Jan 2020. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2020. 87 "Using the Power of Stories to Help Overcome Depression",
DT Next, 4 Dec 2019. 86 "Getting
the Story Right: How Some Wounds are Finally Healing", thefederal.com , 11 Nov 2019. 85 "Tracing
the Significance of Statues Along the Marina Stretch", Times of India, Chennai Times section,
page 3, 11 Sept 2019. 84 "Storytelling
Enhances Coping Mechanism", Deccan
Chronicle, 5
August 2019. 83 "Tales
of My Travels in India" (7MB pdf file), by Marion Kenny, Newsletter
of Traditional
Arts and Culture of Scotland, 22 March 2019. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2019. 82 "Age Old Art of Story Telling Gets a Makeover: Resonates
from Corporate Clients to Children", Financial Express (Noida edition), 3 Feb 2019. 81 "The
World in Stories", Indian
Express, 31 Jan 2019. Relating to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2019. 80 "At
this Storytelling Festival, Listen to Tales from Scotland, US, Canada, China,
and India" (3MB pdf file), The Hindu, 30 Jan 2019. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2019. 79 "World
Storytelling Institute Links Storytelling with Nature Walks", Merinews, 4 Nov 2018. 78 "Narrating Tales for Gender Inclusion at the Workplace",
DT Next, 31 Oct 2018. 77 "Conversations with God, Cinderella, and Fear", The Hindu, MetroPlus section, page 4,
31 August 2018. Dr Eric
Miller is the Assistant Director of the Indian Institute of Psychodrama, as
well as being the Director of the World Storytelling Institute. 76 "Healing Touch: When Art Forms Become Therapy", DT Next, 23 August 2018. 75 "Down
Dravidian Lane, by the Beach", Times of India, page 2, 23 August 2018. 74 "The Dravidian Movement and the Art of Storytelling",
The Hindu, page 2, 23 August 2018. 73 "An Ode to
the Late Dr Karunanidhi by Dr Eric Miller of the World Storytelling Institute
in Chennai", Merinews, 9
August 2018. 72 "Tattle Like a Grown-up", The Hindu, Metroplus section, page 6, 9 Feb 2018. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2018. 71 "Stories Can Connect with Everyone", The Hindu, page 2, 7 Feb 2018. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2018. 70 "Over 34
Storytellers to Attend Chennai Storytelling Festival", Indian Express, Indulge section, 2 Feb
2018. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2018. 69 "Feminist Tales of Yore", The Hindu, Metroplus section, page 4, 1 Feb 2018. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2018. 68 "Learning
through Stories: Sixth Edition of Chennai Storytelling Festival is Here", The News Minute, 29
Jan 2018. Relating
to Chennai Storytelling Festival 2018. 67 "Sailors of Stories", Indian Express, Sunday Magazine cover story, 29 July 2017. Portraits
of 16 people in the field of storytelling in
India. Dr Eric, WSI Director, is mentioned on page 11. 66 "How Art
Alters Life", Deccan Chronicle,
Chennai Chronicle section, 29 July 2017. 65 "Creative Touch: Urban
Indians are Seeking Art, Dance and Movement Therapy for Improving Mental
Health", First Post (Mumbai), 23 July 2017. 64 "Workshop
on Storytelling Therapy to be Conducted in Chennai", Times of India, City section, 7 July
2017. 63 "It's
Story Time for Mentors", The
Hindu 62 "Storytelling
can Effectively Train Employees",
The Hindu (Visakhapatnam
edition), 7 March 2017. 61 "A Magnet Called Kannagi", The Week, pages 82-3, 25 Dec 2016. 60 "Tale and Hearty", Bangalore Mirror, page 7, 27 Nov 2016. Mentions Dr Eric’s work with Storytelling
Therapy. 59 "A
Story is Always More Important than the Teller", Indian Express, Chennai Express
section, page 3, 19 Oct 2016. 58 "Storytelling via Interactive Video?", Indian Express, City section, page 3,
19 May 2016. 57 "Spin Me a Tale", The Hindu, Metroplus section, 10 Feb 2016. About storytelling for business training, and
Chennai Storytelling Festival 2016. 56 "Right Things to Say and The Way You Say It Makes a Good
Story", Indian Express,
Expresso section, 10 Feb 2016. About Chennai Storytelling Festival 2016. 55 "Storytelling Fest Celebrates Art of Spinning Tales",
Indian Express, 4 Feb 2016. About Chennai Storytelling Festival 2016. 54 "Telling Effect", The Hindu (Madurai edition), Metroplus section, 3 Feb 2016. About a Storytelling Workshop at American
University in Madurai. 53 "Learn
to Tell Tales with Online Classes",
Deccan Chronicle, Chennai
Chronicle section, 28 May 2015. About storytelling training for adults via
videoconference. 52 "Healing
through Storytelling", Indian
Express, City Express section, 19
Feb 2015. 51 "Stories
that Changed Lives", Indian
Express, City Express section, 12 Nov 2014. About storytelling by and for adults at a
CCD. 50 "A
Storyteller's Tale", India
Currents Magazine, Oct 2014. 49 "The Many
Ways of Telling Tales", The
Hindu, 23 June 2014. About the Storytelling Workshop for Adults. 48 "And They Lived Happily Ever After", The Hindu, 14 Feb 2014. About Chennai Storytelling Festival
2014. 47 "Storytelling
Festival to Show Healing Power in Old Raja-Rani Tales", Times of India, 7 Feb 2014. About Chennai Storytelling Festival
2014. 46 "Once
Upon a Time...Therapy?", Indian
Express, City Express section, 5 Feb 2014. About Chennai Storytelling Festival
2014. 45 "Exploring
the Gamut of Storytelling", Deccan
Chronicle, Chennai Chronicle section, 5 Feb 2014. About Chennai Storytelling Festival
2014. 44 "The
Chennai Storytelling Festival",
Le Petit Chennai (online
newsletter in French), Jan 2014. An
English translation of the article is here. 43 "A
Lot More than Just Storytelling", New Indian Express, 19 Nov 2013.
About personal-experience storytelling by and
for adults, in a cafe. 42 About the Kaani Tribal Storytelling Festival. 41 "A Storyteller from Chennai", www.life365.com
(Pune), 27 July 2013) 40 "A Twist in the Tale", The Hindu, Sunday Magazine section, 7 July 2013. 39 "He
Tells It Like It Is", Deccan
Chronicle, 24 June 2013. About the Kaani Tribal Storytelling Festival. 38 "Indian
Storytellers Struggle to Keep Tradition Alive", www.dw.de (German
news website), 2 May 2013. 37 "To
Learn, To Speak, To Grow", Indian
Express, 19 April 2013. 36 "Is Indian Storytelling a Dying Art?", BBC News Online, 23 March 2013. 35 "Storyteller's
Wonderland," Highlights
Champs, India edition, April
2013. 34 33 "Telling
Tales," Indian Express (15
March 2013). 32 "How
to Spin a Yarn Your Way", Deccan
Chronicle (29 Jan 2013). About the Chennai Storytelling Festival. 31 "Nurturing the Art of Spinning a Yarn", The Hindu (28 Jan 2013). About the Chennai Storytelling Festival. 30 "The
Tale Trail", Indian Express,
4 Jan 2013. About the Chennai
Storytelling Festival. 29 "What
is All the Drama About?", Deccan
Chronicle, 10 Nov 2012. About the Indian Institute of Psychodrama,
which is affiliated with the WSI. 28 "Story Selling", Times of India, Crest Edition, 2 Sept 2012. About storytelling and business. 27 "The Primal Art", Mint, 9 Sept 2012. About storytelling and education. 26 "A
Storyteller's Story", Deccan
Herald, Bangalore edition (15 April 2012). 25 "Science
Fiction Writers Should be Socially Responsible", The Hindu, 21 Jan 2012. 24 22 "A
Storyteller", India Today,
Simply Chennai section, 5th Anniversary Special, Sept 2010.
About about the WSI's "Places of
Kannagi" Tour. 20 "Bring
Back the Storyteller!", Times
of India, 4 April 2010.
18 "The
Art of Storytelling", Times of
India, 14 Nov 2008. 17 "Learning
the Art of Narrating a Story in a Telling Manner," The Hindu, 1 Sept 2008.
"A
Catamaran Festival in the Mall", The
Hindu, 13 Aug 2007. 12 "Mall
Gets Taste of Sea Culture", Deccan
Chronicle, 13 Aug 2007. 11 "An
American in Love with Kannagi", Indian
Express, 11 June 2007. 10 "Ideas
for New Colonies for Fishing People: Marina Beach Museum", Mylapore Times, 24 March 2007. 9 "Catamaran
Festival", The Hindu, 10
Sept 2006. 8 "Celebrating
the Sea-fishing Heritage", The
Hindu, 16 July 2006. 7 "Capturing
the Mood of a Community", Indian
Express, 16 July 2006. 6 "As
Civilised as We Are", News
Today, 20 Oct 2004. 5 "The
Culture of Kani People", The
Hindu, 14 Oct 2004. 4 "Away
from Jungles, Tribe Hunts for Recognition" Indian Express, 13 Oct 2004. 3 "Webcasting
Culture Across Continents", The
Hindu, 17 Aug 2000. 2 "Silappathikaram Teaches Respect for Human Rights: US Scholar",
The Hindu, 10 Dec 1988. 1 "US
Scholar in Search of Information about Kannagi", The Hindu, 7 Nov 1988. Selected
Writings by Dr Eric Miller, Director of the WSI 44 Three
speeches given by Dr Eric at the school of which he is Dean (Rojavanam International School, Nagarcoil): ––– Pongal
speech (relating to Silappathikaram and singing-games), 13 Jan 2024. The
speech in written form is here. ––– Annual
Day speech, 2 March 2024. A video recording of the speech is here (2 minutes). ––– KG
Graduation speech (mentioning teaching-and-learning "ways to
think"), Saturday 23 March 2024. The speech in written form is here. 43 "A
Review of a School" (2022). 42 "There's a
New Therapist in Town: Storytelling Therapy", Indian Express, City Express section, page 5. The unedited version is here. (2019.) 41 "Conversing
with Characters within Oneself: A Form of Therapeutic Role-playing"
(2019). 40 39 38 37 Vision
Statement: "Storytelling and Interactive Education" (2017). 36 "Ways Storytellers are Using Audio- and Videoconferencing
for Training, Discussion, and Performance", 12-page section of Storytelling Magazine, guest-edited by
Dr Eric (2017). 35 "Fairytale Therapy: A Type of Storytelling Therapy"
(2017). 34 "Story and Storytelling in Storytelling
Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy" (2016). 33 "Expressive
Arts Therapy -- including Storytelling Therapy -- in Cultural Context"
(2016). 32 "Becoming
Oneself: A Goal in Carl Jung's Conception of Therapy" (2016). 31 "Review
of a Drama-and-Movement Therapy Workshop" (2016). 30 "Variations
in and of the Story of the Silappathikaram
(the Epic of the Anklet)"
(2016). 29 "The
Storytelling Scene in Chennai" (2016). 28 "Ways
Verbal Play such as Storytelling and Word-games Can Be Used for
Teaching-and-learning Languages" (2015). 27 "Ways
Storytelling can be used for Teaching- and-Learning" (2015). 26 "Child
Development, Arts Therapies, Education -- and Storytelling", Teacher
Plus Magazine (Hyderabad) (Nov 2014). 25 "Storytelling by and for Adults at a Café Coffee Day!", Cafe
Chronicle (2013). 24 "Dance,
Movement, Gesture, and Posture in Storytelling" (2013). 23 "Notes after
Session 2 of a 3-session Workshop on Role-playing in Storytelling"
(2016). 22 "Role-playing
in Storytelling" (2013). 21 "Marina
Beach Deserves a Living Museum", Deccan
Chronicle (10 Nov 2013). The original, unedited
version of the article is here. 20 "Storytelling in the Age of Videoconferencing", New
Moment Magazine for Art and Advertising (Belgrade, Serbia; and Ljubljana,
Slovenia) (Nov 2013). The article as
plain text is here. 19 "The
Value of the Multi-Discipline Approach to Research", Conference
Proceedings, Kanyakumari Academy of Arts and Sciences,
Annual Meeting (Sept 2013). 18 "Ethnographic Videoconferencing" (Nov 2012). 17 "Aspects
of the Storytelling Revival in India" (August 2011). 16 "Using
Storytelling to Encourage Reading" (2011). 15 "Storytelling
and Story-listening, and Children's Intellectual,
Emotional, and Social Development" (2011). 14 "Theories of Story and Storytelling" (2011). 13 "Ethnographic Videoconferencing, as Applied to
Songs/Chants/Dances/Games of South Indian Children, and Language Learning", PhD Dissertation, Folklore Program,
University of Pennsylvania (August 2010). 12 "Weaving
Magic: Storytelling in Chennai",
Deccan Chronicle (28 March 2010). The original, unedited
version of the article is here. "Ideas
for Chennai Sangamam" (Jan 2009).
About a folk performing arts festival in Tamil Nadu, 10 "Conducting
Folklore Interviews via Videoconference", Education
Newsletter, American Folklore Society (Spring 2008). 9 "In
Praise of Citizen Kannagi", The Hindu (16 June 2006). About the heroine of a Tamil epic. 8 "Cultivating a Forest Language: Development Ideas for Kaani
Tribal People of Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari District",
Conference Proceedings, Kanyakumari Academy of Arts and Sciences, Annual Meeting (Oct
2004). Co-authored with Murugan
Narayanan Kaani. 7 "Chennai and Videoconferencing: Videoconferencing for
Performing, Teaching, and Discussing Tamil Language and Performing Arts", Conference
Proceedings, International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil
(2003). 6 "Verbal Play and Language Acquisition" (2003). 5 "The Performance of Epic and the Practice of Lament"
(2001). 4 "Continuity and Change in Chinese Storytelling"
(2000). 3 "Turn-Taking and Relevance in Conversation"
(1999). 2 "Roleplaying in an African Storytelling Event"
(1998). 1 "Tamil Nadu's Silappathikaram
(Epic of the Anklet): Ancient Story
and Modern Identity", Self-published booklet (1991). Links to more of Dr Eric's writings are on
his personal webpage. Storytelling
Tourism The Places
of Kannagi Tour Poster is here.
Additional info about the Tour is
here.
New editions of the Tour are being
planned -- to parts of the route, and to the entire route. Please contact us if you might be
interested in joining, or helping to organise, an edition of the Tour. Living Museum
project
"Marina Beach Deserves a Living Museum", Deccan
Chronicle (10 Nov 2013). The original, unedited version
of the article is here. World
Storytelling Institute Staff
Bio-Data Specialising in
Storytelling for/by/with Adults, and Storytelling Therapy. Specialising in
Psychodrama, and Expressive Arts Therapy. 98847 00135. |
