Park Sloper’s new storytelling series seeks to unite through collective thought
With a history steeped in literary culture, Brooklyn has long been home to some of the most talented and influential storytellers. Over the years, New York City has preserved the “spoken tradition” through a variety of series, among them The Moth and How I Learned. Now, Brooklyn-based poet Terence Degnan will host a new storytelling series at Park Slope’s Open Source Gallery titled “How to Build a Fire: Advancing the Oral Tradition.”
Beginning March 27 and held the last Thursday of every month through March 2015 in Park Slope’s Open Source Gallery, Degnan’s series will explore the course of the narrative, not only as it is heard, but also as it experiences its reiterations. “My goal is to find out what the whole heart-of-the-matter — the muck of all of us existing now — looks like. If we tell our stories, maybe we can see what the heart is shaped like,” Degnan said.
The first event, on March 27, begins at 7:30 p.m. and will feature stories from husband and wife Scott Adkins and Erin Courtney (playwrights and book publishers who founded Brooklyn Writers Space and Sock Monkey Press), Park Slope resident Reggie Cunningham (songwriter, actor and local bartender who will be telling a story about an autistic lawnmower enthusiast), Shawn Lyons (owner at RABBITHOLESTUDIO/Rabbit Movers and performance artist) and Mateo Prendergast (an actor who will tell a story about a young Jewish man hiding his cultural identity from his fellow gang members).