Donna Washington

INDIVIDUAL - SCAD ID - #390



Contact

d.klibanow@frontier.com
919.471.3036
https://www.dlwstoryteller.com
North Carolina


Discipline

  • Theatre
  • Literature
  • Folklife/Traditional Arts


Geographical Availability

  • Upstate
  • Midlands
  • PeeDee
  • Low Country

About

Also known as DLW Storyteller, Inc.

ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a multiple award-winning, author, artist educator, and international master storyteller. This is the only job I have ever had as a grown-up! I have been using storytelling for the last 35 years to entertain and educate audiences of all ages. I specialize in crafting age, developmentally, and socially and emotionally appropriate storytelling events for school audiences. I work with everyone from preschool to university students and beyond. Storytelling is an amazing tool to help emergent and struggling readers work on comprehension skills without the mechanics of reading. My performances are fast-paced, fun, participatory, and memorable. For sets with emergent readers, I use call and response, improvisation, and various other forms of group participation to encourage students to problem solve as well as play with language. Folklore, literary stories, and narratives of all kinds are imbued with themes of respect, cooperation, caring for the earth and each other, the importance of community, and responsibility. I am a minimalist performer. All I need is a space and a sound system – which I am happy to bring – to take audiences on a journey through international folklore where characters from Brer Rabbit to the Boo Hag can help us navigate through life as well as kindle and sustain a love of reading.

BIOGRAPHY
Donna Washington is an award-winning internationally known master storyteller, artist-educator, and author who has been performing for audiences of all ages for over 35 years. She is renowned for her storytelling for both children and adults from poignant and funny fables about the human condition to racy relationships stories to spine-tingling tales of terror. She has been featured at numerous festivals, schools, libraries, theaters and other venues around the world including Canada, Peru, Argentina, and Hong Kong. During the pandemic, she has presented more than 300 shows & workshops virtually. In 2020, she co-founded the non-profit organization Artists Standing Strong Together with master storyteller Sheila Arnold for which they won a 2021 Oracle Award. Donna’s 11vstorytelling CD’s have garnered 30 national awards. She has authored numerous articles about storytelling and education including her very popular blog Language, Literacy & Storytelling. She is also the author of five children’s books: Li’l Rabbit’s Kwanzaa, A Pride of African Tales, The Story of Kwanzaa, A Big Spooky House, and award winning Boo Stew. Peachtree Press is scheduled to publish her next picture book, Prak Fills The House, in September 2023. She travels all over the world performing and giving workshops. She lives with her husband and two cats in Durham, North Carolina.