About the tellers
About The Tellers
DENISE MCCORMACK
Denise McCormack has been telling professionally for more than a decade, presenting programs throughout the tri-state area--to listeners of all ages and in a multitude of venues-- and is deeply committed to sharing the benefits of storytelling in a broad spectrum of applications from education and community to business, health, and well-being.
Among her many roles in storytelling, McCormack is president of the Patchwork Storytelling Guild, and an active member of various other local and national organizations wherein storytelling plays an integral role.
ROB APTAKER
For more than forty years, Rob Aptaker has spent time visiting Native American people from many tribal nations. Rob is an avid student of Native American oral histories and of Native American historical and anthropological records and has been privileged to learn some of the stories, songs, and traditional ways of North America’s indigenous people.
Rob shares, “If there is artistry in my presentations and performances, it is not in imitation; rather, it is in finding the words, sounds, and gestures to help audiences connect with what is universal in the unique and particular story I am sharing. To make history and culture come to life for school children, I call on the power of stories to awaken their imaginations.”
ROBIN MOORE
Robin Moore has told stories to one million children and has presented over 5,000 storytelling programs. He is the author of more than a dozen award-winning books for children, published by HarperCollins, Random House and Simon & Schuster. Robin was named National Storyteller of the Year and Author of the Year by the PA School Librarians Association. He holds a Masters Degree in Oral Traditions and serves on the faculty of The Graduate Institute.
For more than 35 years, Robin has enjoyed creating stories in both spoken and written word and helping children and families uncover their own storytelling traditions. Join him as we awaken the hidden storyteller and discover the natural born writer in us all…
INGRID BOHN
Ingrid entertains people in story and song and has been active in theater productions for over 30 years.
She is an Interactive Theater and Storytelling artist who shares traditional folktales, fairy tales, and literary stories from all over the world and brings to life multifaceted characters whose unique personalities aid in the cultural understanding.
Ingrid encourages role playing and audience participation and is a proud member of the Lehigh Valley and Patchwork Storytelling Guilds.
DENNIS STRAIN
Dennis Strain has been telling stories for over twenty years. His storytelling journey started in Harrisburg where he told with two storytelling groups: Tapestry of Tales and Susquehanna Tellers. Retirement brought him to Philadelphia in 2005. He joined Patchwork: A Storytelling Guild that year, and told frequently at Tellabration In Philadelphia and at the N.J. Storytelling Festival.
Dennis currently resides in Elizabethtown and teaches a four session course entitled Storytelling For Beginners. Dennis tells traditional tales, with an emphasis on Irish folklore.
Land Acknowledgement
As a step toward honoring the truth of our history and achieving healing and reconciliation, Patchwork acknowledges the traditional Native lands on which we stand and the peoples and cultures who stood here before us, and stand here still.
About Patchwork: A Storytelling Guild
Patchwork Storytelling Guild is a member-supported 501c3 non-profit organization serving the needs of the Philadelphia Metro area, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Delaware Valley.
Its mission is to provide a forum for storytellers and to promote the art of storytelling through community outreach related to the practice, performance, and value of storytelling. Patchwork offers: monthly story swaps, coaching sessions, performance opportunities... and more.