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• STORYTELLING II: Next Steps with Ruth Danziger

  • Start
    Tuesday, March 10, 2026
  •  
  • End
    Tuesday, April 14, 2026
  •  
  • Schedule
    6 sessions
  • Location
    Frankland Community Centre, 816 Logan Ave, Toronto (Logan and Danforth) Exception: March 17
  • Spaces left
    5

  STORYTELLING II: NEXT steps to storytelling

  with ruth danziger

  If you’ve already taken a beginner’s storytelling course*, and would like to widen your repertoire, develop your confidence, and have more opportunities for telling, Storytelling II: Next Steps is for you. You choose a personal or traditional story you want to work on and have the opportunity to hone your storytelling skills through practices including visualizing, sensory imagination, story mapping, role playing and connecting with voice. Each participant will have a chance to tell their story and receive constructive feedback.  

  
   PRE-REQUISITE: Storytelling I: First Steps Into the Art of Storytelling OR equivalent experience

  Note: The March 17 class will take place at a private home. There is a steep flight of stairs to the washroom at this location. 

  Ruth Danziger is a storyteller and multi-disciplinary artist. In addition to her varied work as a storyteller, she has edited two collections of stories and is a founding member of the improvisational voice collective, Hathorah. Ruth brings the breadth of her skills and background to her teaching approach. She enjoys working with others and is committed to the art and practice of storytelling and to the ways we can support each other to grow as storytellers.
  

  
  

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• Storypillar Series: Folk Edition

  • When
    Saturday, March 21, 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
  • Location
    The Palmerston Public Library Theatre
  • Spaces left
    90

  Register

  StorytellingToronto is proud to announce TALES OF WISDOM: FOLK at the Palmerston Public Library Theatre on Saturday March 21. This event is part of Storytelling Toronto’s new STORYPILLARS SERIES leading up to the Toronto International Storytelling Festival May 7-10, 2026.

  WHAT IS THIS EVENT?

  TALES OF WISDOM is a storytelling concert featuring a collection of tellers sharing FOLK stories (traditional or folk) that impart a lasting life lesson. 

  Theme: Wisdom Tales - Life Lessons in Stories
  

  Featuring Adham Husseini, Feni Fina, Brandon Lista, Alistair Martin, Rensia Melles, Laxmi Balaji and Chukky Enyi Ibe!

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• Creating Connections: Light in the Dark

  • When
    Friday, March 27, 2026
  •  
    1:00 PM
  • Location
    Online

  

  World Storytelling Day – Creating Connections: Light in the Dark

   Friday, March 27, 2026
  1:00 PM (ET)

  Moderated by: Christine Hennebury (Past President, SC-CC) & Afreina Noor (Board Member, SC-CC / Partnerships Lead, Unsinkable)

  Click here to register: 

  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CBB4jp7mRiSqLMvWf8Z5UA

  In honour of World Storytelling Day (March 20), Unsinkable and Storytellers of Canada – Conteurs du Canada (SC-CC) are coming together through the Creating Connections program to host a two-part online storytelling conversation inspired by this year’s global theme: Light in the Dark.

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1468619374605501

  
  

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• A Light in the Dark

  • When
    Saturday, April 04, 2026
  •  
    2:00 PM
  • Location
    Bain Co-op Community Centre- 100 Bain Ave., enter off Sparkhall Ave., just west of Logan Ave.

  
  

  A Light in the Dark

  Please gather together as The Ten Tellers take you on illuminated journeys, showcasing the play of dark and light.

  Tellers- Sarah Abusarar, Pat Bisset, Michael Boulger, Natasha Charles, Donna Dudinsky, Nick Miceli, Paul Nash

  Guest teller- Rubena Sinha

  Guest illustrator- Amira Alamary

  P.W.Y.C., suggested $20 , cash only at the door

  Show details
• Storypillar Series: Non Fiction

  • When
    Saturday, April 25, 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
  • Location
    The Palmerston Public Library Theatre
  • Spaces left
    120

  Register

  

  WHAT IS THIS EVENT?

  TALES OF WISDOM is a storytelling concert featuring a collection of tellers sharing NON-FICTION stories that impart a lasting life lesson. 

  Theme: Wisdom Tales - Life Lessons in Stories

  Tellers will share personal stories of lessons learned, challenges overcome and life events that have stayed with them. Wisdom tales that impart a pearl of lived knowledge.

  Featuring Briane Nasimok, Sara Rose Caplan, Brad Woods, Yvy Ringler, Rubena Sinha, Dave Keystone and Jennielea Roxon

  The tellers at the event are selected via lottery determined prior to the event. 
  

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• Festival Kick-Off

  • When
    Thursday, May 07, 2026
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    A Different Booklist - 779 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON M5S 0B7

  Register

  Help us kick off the 2026 Toronto International Storytelling Festival with a fun mixer at A Different Booklist with a performance from celebrated storyteller Itah Sadu. 

  Casual mixer to follow at the Palmerston Library Theatre from 1:00-3:00pm.

  REGISTER FOR FREE.

  
  

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• Welcome Concert

  • When
    Thursday, May 07, 2026
  •  
    6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave, Toronto, ON M6G 2P7
  • Spaces left
    117

  Register

  The 2026 Toronto International Storytelling Festival officially begins with our Welcome Concert featuring a showcase of some of our featured performers in the festival, including Daniel Morden, Lenore Keeshig Tobias, Jacqui Du Toit,  and Raccontamiunastori.  

  Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

  
  

  
  

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• Corin Raymond's BOOKWORM

  • When
    Thursday, May 07, 2026
  •  
    8:30 PM - 9:30 PM
  • Location
    Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave, Toronto, ON M6G 2P7
  • Spaces left
    118

  Register

  
  

  From storyteller Corin Raymond comes a joyously-bookish, spoken-word love-letter to the books we’ve loaned and lost, and to the secret paths they travel in the world to find us. BOOKMARKS is a “memoir-o-logue,” a feast of word-fun, and a healing spell for anyone who’s ever lost someone – or something – they deeply loved. 

  
  

  Winnipeg Free Press ★★★★ ½

  
  

  Little more info:

  Corin Raymond is also a Juno-nominated singer/songwriter. His previous “bookish

  monologue,” Bookworm (2011), won Best of Fringe in Vancouver in 2012 “Corin

  has impeccable timing, and his performance is at once intimate, open-hearted and

  evangelical,” Vancouver’s Georgia Straight. His other storytelling-show, The Great

  Canadian Tire Money Caper (2015), tells how Corin and a worldwide-community

  paid for the making of an entire double-album (Paper Nickels, 2013) with

  Canadian Tire money. Corin has released 8 full-length albums, and he keeps his

  stuff in Toronto, where he lives with his dog Reese.

  
  

  “Corin Raymond is a storyteller who by the end of the night you’ll have known your

  whole life” – Brad Wheeler, The Globe and Mail.

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• Daniel Morden Workshop

  • When
    Friday, May 08, 2026
  •  
    1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
  • Location
    Palmerston LIbrary Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave, Toronto, ON M6G 2P7
  • Spaces left
    119

  Register

  
  

  Join renowned traditional folk storyteller Daniel Morden for this thought provoking workshop as he analyses his process of building Tales From The Dark woods repertoire. This process involves an exploration of the original manuscripts that inspired the piece, as well as a performance of a sample of the piece in its present form.

  This workshop is perfect for storytellers looking for skills and insight on how to broaden their understanding of traditional folk stories. It is also an exhilarating opportunity to hear one of the world’s greatest living storytellers speak on their craft.

  Participants must be 18+
  

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• 1001 FRIDAY NIGHTS OF STORYTELLING: TORONTO SHOWCASE

  • When
    Friday, May 08, 2026
  •  
    5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Toronto Reference Library Atrium Lobby - 789 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W 2G8

  Register

  Come celebrate the rich oral tradition of storytelling with 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling performed LIVE at the Toronto Reference Library Atrium lobby performance space. This showcase will include Festival guest artists Daniel Morden, Lenore Keeshig Tobias, Jacqui Du Toit, Paola Balbi & Davide Bardi of Raccontamiunastoria, and the members of the wonderful 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling.

  Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

  Every Friday night since 1978, storytellers and listeners have been gathering in Toronto for an open evening of oral stories. Each Friday night is unique, and everyone is welcome to come and listen, come and tell. You might hear traditional tales, stories of personal experience, literary stories, original stories, ballads, or episodes from history, all told through the human voice.

  Show details
• FUNNY YOU SHOULD TELL THAT…

  • When
    Friday, May 08, 2026
  •  
    8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
  • Location
    Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave, Toronto, ON M6G 2P7
  • Spaces left
    117

  Register

  Join the hilarious Briane Nasimok for a night cap of madcap entertainment featuring a showcase of fine and funny tellers, including Christle Bartiles, Evan Carter, Alexa Higgins, Justin Shaw, and more!

  Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

  Door: 7:30pm

  Show: 8:00pm-9:30pm

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• The Hottentot Venus - Untold

  • When
    Saturday, May 09, 2026
  •  
    1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
  • Location
    Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave, Toronto, ON M6G 2P7
  • Spaces left
    119

  Register

  Don’t miss this exciting piece of theatrical storytelling performed by multi-award winning storyteller Jacqui Du Toit.

  Hottentot Venus Untold traces the life of Saartjie Baartman, an Indigenous South African woman taken into slavery and brought to London, where she was cruelly displayed as a “savage curiosity.” History remembers her as a symbol of exploitation—but her story is far more layered, resilient, and human.

  The performance unfolds in five chapters, each told through the voice of a fictional female character who, in some way—spiritually or physically—intersects with Saartjie’s journey. Each perspective reveals a different truth, creating a five-dimensional portrait of a woman whose life embodied both suffering and courage. Through movement, song, gesture, and spoken word, the voices of these women bring Saartjie’s story to life, challenging the audience to reflect on the ongoing realities of colonization, exploitation, and the erasure of Indigenous voices. At once intimate and epic, this storytelling theatre piece is not just a remembrance of Saartjie Baartman—it is also a mirror held up to the present. It confronts historical injustices while highlighting the strength of Indigenous women, both past and present, whose voices demand to be heard.
  

  Door 1:00pm

  Show: 1:30-3:00pm

  
  

  
  

  Show details
• QUEERS IN YOUR EARS

  • When
    Saturday, May 09, 2026
  •  
    3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    The Arquives 34 Isabella St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1N1
  • Spaces left
    28

  Register

  
  

  Join us for a riveting afternoon of storytelling featuring a renowned collective of storytellers that have been part of the Festival since its inception - Queers in Your Ears!

  Founded in 1997 by Rico Rodriguez, this collective is dedicated to telling stories about being queer — stories that had long gone unheard. Focusing on original material, embracing vibrant, queer voices and perspectives, from personal histories to reimagined fairy tales, QIYE pushes boundaries and brings bold new dimensions to the art of storytelling. QIYE is a platform where our queer tales thrive, provoke, and inspire. This year, we trade halos for horns, indulge in some deadly sins, and add a few of our own. After all, QIYE has always proven that a little sin never hurt… much. This event features performances from Rico Rodrigues, Clare Nobbs, Jeffrey Canton, and TJ Banate!

  Please note the schedule and lineup are subject to change.

  Doors: 3:00pm

  Show: 3:30pm-5:00pm

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• THE ILIAD by Raccontamiunastoria

  • When
    Saturday, May 09, 2026
  •  
    8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
  • Location
    Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave, Toronto, ON M6G 2P7
  • Spaces left
    117

  Register

  
  

  Don’t miss this performance of Raccontamiunastoria’s provoking and engaging performance of ILIAD- The song of Thetis, an epic storytelling show based on Homer’s Iliad.

  This show was created and performed by Paola Balbi and Davide Bardi and directed by Joele Anastasi.  An incendiary retelling of Homer’s Iliad, sung through the voice of Thetis, Achilles’mother. Two performers fluidly shift between gods and mortals, mother and warrior, goddess and lover, masculine and feminine, collapsing the boundaries of gender, power and fate. Love -maternal, erotic, spiritual- collides with the brutal machinery of war. Developed through international residencies and informed by artistic exchange with Lebanese and Palestinian collaborators working amid ongoing conflict, the production refuses nostalgia. Olympus is not distant; it is political, volatile, human. Nearly three millennia later, the epic burns with the same question: who wages war, and who pays the price?

  The production was developed through a two-year innovative creative process within the frame of MYTHICA Project 2024/2025, supported by Rome city Council involving international artistic residencies, open door rehearsals with audience involvement and contributions from top international storytellers and young emerging voices. Crucial to the creative process were real-time testimonies from women artists whose lives are presently affected by the ongoing war in the Middle East: Palestinian storyteller Fidaa Ataya and Lebanese storyteller Sarah Kassir. A key contribution came also by Martinican storyteller Valer Egouy, who supported the cast in exploring the psychological and social dynamics of slavery. 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• FAMILY STORYTELLING

  • When
    Sunday, May 10, 2026
  •  
    12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
  • Location
    First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto - East Hall, 473 Oakwood Ave, York, ON M6C 2R5
  • Spaces left
    19

  Register

  Bring the children for an afternoon of family storytelling featuring Parent-Child Mother Goose Program, Teddy Bear’s Picnic, Jacqui Du Toit, and Lenore Keeshig-Tobias. 

  12:30pm -1:00pm - Parent-Child Mother Goose

  1:15pm - 1:45pm - Teddy Bear’s Picnic

  2:00pm - 2:30pm - Lenore Keeshig-Tobias

  2:45 - 3:15pm - Jacqui Du Toit

  * Schedule subject to change, please follow Storytelling Toronto on social media for any scheduling updates.

  REGISTER FOR FREE!

  
  

  Show details
• BEYOND BOARDERS: Storytelling in Europe

  • When
    Sunday, May 10, 2026
  •  
    12:30 PM - 1:15 PM
  • Location
    First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto - Room 101, 473 Oakwood Ave, York, ON M6C 2R5
  • Spaces left
    19

  Register

  
  

  Curious about performing internationally?

  Join Paola Balbi (Raccontamiunastoria) for a discussion about storytelling in Europe as she shares insight from her experience being on the Board of the Federation of European Storytelling in her role as Expert in the field of Performing Storytelling Training.”

  Questions about the state of storytelling in Europe are welcomed and encouraged!
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• DANIEL MORDEN’S - THE THIEF’S TALE

  • When
    Sunday, May 10, 2026
  •  
    3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto - Sanctuary, 473 Oakwood Ave, York, ON M6C 2R5
  • Spaces left
    198

  Register

  
  

  Don’t miss Daniel Morden’s THE THIEF'S TALE - Grisly fun with one of Europe's finest storytellers. A thrilling folktale from long ago, brimming with monsters, madness and gruesome humour, told by celebrated storyteller DANIEL MORDEN. One part Homer's Odyssey, one part anxiety dream, The Thief's Tale is a celebration of the art of telling a cracking tell well. 

  'His performances were full of suspense and drama' NATIONAL THEATRE

  'He combines the skills of the troubadour, the actor, the bard, the standup comedian and the preacher in the pulpit.. One of the UK's greatest storytellers' BBC RADIO 3

  Suitable 12+ (contains mentions of gore)
  

  
  

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