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“Those who tell the stories rule the world.” ― Hopi American Indian proverb

2025 PCMDC Conversations with Storytellers Series

PCMDC Program Director Tausha Forney will lead this six-part storytelling series starting in April 2025. These conversations are casual and interactive, allowing for audience participation as storytellers share their lived experiences, cultural heritage, and unique perspectives.

Events will take place at The Pigeon at 6:00 PM on the second Thursday of each month from April to September 2025.

This year’s featured storytellers include:

• April 10, 2025 – Kathi Littlejohn has been telling Cherokee stories for more than 40 years at events, festivals, and schools. She has been leading Cherokee history tours for five years to historically and culturally significant places in Western North Carolina.
• May 08, 2025 – LaKisha Blount explores the essence of her experiences and generational stories of Black mountain life in Appalachia through her figurative oil paintings.
• June 12, 2025 – Joseph Drew Lanham is an American author, poet, wildlife biologist, and 2022 MacArthur Fellowship-winner for his work "combining conservation science with personal, historical, and cultural narratives of nature."
• July 10, 2025 – Kelle Jolly is an "Affrilachian-Georgia-lina-Peach," embracing a rich blend of cultural influences. She weaves storytelling with music, using her mastery of the ukulele.
• August 14, 2025 – Roy Harris is a passionate storyteller and a member of three storytelling organizations: the Asheville Storytelling Circle (of which he is a former president), the North Carolina Association of Black Storytellers, and the National Association of Black Storytellers.
• September 11, 2025 – Glenis Redmond is the First Poet Laureate of Greenville, South Carolina, and a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist.

🎟 Tickets & Pricing

• $10 for community members
• $7 for seniors (65+)
• $5 for students
• Children 12 and under attend FREE

Tickets may be purchased in advance at https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/92f97f35-fb70-47a4-9099-a00dba4bdf08or at the door for each event. Discounted series passes ($50 community / $35 senior / $25 student) are also available.

🥤 Refreshments will be available for purchase.

For individual event sponsorship opportunities, please contact Tausha Forney at pcmdchaywood@gmail.com.

Join us as we celebrate storytelling, history, and culture through the voices of incredible artists and tradition bearers. See you there!

Pigeon Community Conversations with Storytellers Series would not be possible without the generous support of Friends of the Haywood County Public Library, the Smoky Mountain News, and Janet & Bob Clark.

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