Meet Our Performers!

Corin Raymond

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.

Mariella Bertelli

A versatile storyteller, Mariella believes in the power of stories to transform and inspire. She knows that stories  connect us together, in the present but also to the past. Based in Toronto, Mariella’s stories - original, literary or steeped in the oral tradition -  span the world, from Italy to Canada, Egypt to Brasil. Her rhymes and tiny tales enchant little ones while her own family stories speak of immigration, resilience and endurance. 

Mariella enjoys experimenting with narrative, and as such, collaborates with other artists from other disciplines like music, visual arts and puppetry. She has been collaborating with Italian Storytelling Group, Raccontamiunastoria since 2007.

Jacqui Du Toit

Jacqui Du Toit is a multi-award-winning storyteller and artist, and the recent recipient of the Arts Ottawa Award for Outstanding Artist and Community Contributor. An international South African storyteller, arts educator, mentor, and activist, she is dedicated to empowering youth and women through the art of oral traditional storytelling.

Rooted in the rich oral traditions of her heritage, Jacqui uses story as a powerful tool for healing, identity reclamation, and cultural connection. Her work is deeply informed by her South African ancestry and her lived experience, weaving together personal narrative, ancestral wisdom, and contemporary social awareness.

With a background in theatre and performance, her practice bridges storytelling, movement, voice, and community engagement. She creates transformative spaces where participants are encouraged to rediscover their voices, honour their ancestry, and stand confidently in their lived experiences.

Jacqui’s work centers on uplifting marginalized narratives, particularly those of women and young people, helping them access pride, resilience, and creative agency through the power of story. Through workshops, performances, and mentorship, she continues to inspire communities locally and internationally to remember, reclaim, and reimagine their stories.

Daniel Morden

Since 1989 he has travelled the world, telling traditional tales. His repertoire ranges from profound Greek myths to magical fairy tales, thrilling adventures to absurd nonsense. He has performed at the National Theatre, Sydney Writers Festival, The National Storytelling Festival of America, The Getty Centre, many theatres, arts centres, festivals, churches and thousands of schools. In 2017 he was awarded the Hay Festival Medal for his services to storytelling. He has written several award-winning anthologies of traditional stories, including DARK TALES FROM THE WOODS. 

"To experience Daniel Morden in full flight is an amazing thing. 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

Podcast: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/thecraneskinbag

Website: https://danielmorden.org/

Itah Sadu

Itah Sadu is an award-winning storyteller and children’s author. She is the co-owner of the iconic Toronto bookstore A Different Booklist, specializing in African and Caribbean Canadian literature. Itah is the Managing Director of the Blackhurst Cultural Centre - The People's Residence. She is a founding member of the annual Toronto Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride. Itah lives with her family in Toronto.

Briane Nasimok

Currently co-producing and co-hosting the monthly series, Tales at the Tranzac, Briane recently took his "Recovering Romantic" hour-long show to Ottawa as part of their Signature Series. He has a standard poodle named Lulu.

Lenore Keeshig

Lenore Keeshig (Anungo Kwe) of the Wolf Clan is a storyteller and knowledge-keeper from the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation at Neyaashiinigmiing on the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula.

As a storyteller and cultural interpreter, she has been able to connect traditional Anishinaabe stories to current geologic research in the Great Lakes about the rise and fall of water levels, and likes to discuss “geomythology.” She worked for 24 years as a naturalist, providing education programs about the natural and cultural history of the Saugeen/Bruce Peninsula and the Great Lakes.

Her book of poetry Running on the March Wind was published in 2015 by Quattro Press. Primarily an author of stories for children, she co-authored The Truth About Nibbles (2005) with her husband, Davidban McLaren; produced two bilingual children’s books, each illustrated by her daughter Polly Keeshig-Tobias: Emma and the Tree (1996) and Bird Talk (1991), which won the Living the Dream Book Award 1993 – an award commemorating the life work of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1988, Lenore and her husband Davidban McLaren received the Author’s Awards for an article For as Long as The Rivers Flow published in This Magazine.

Lenore worked as a book reviewer, researcher, writer and copy editor for Ontario Indian magazine, published by the Union of Ontario Indians (1981-1984). She has taught Native studies and Canadian Literature, served on various educational boards and committees, and was the founding chair of the Racial Minority Writers Committee of The Writers Union of Canada (1991). As an activist, Lenore worked to foster and promote Indigenous writers, and brought attention to the issue of “cultural appropriation” and racism in the granting and publishing industry.

1001 Nights of Storytelling

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.

Queers in Your Ears

Founded in 1997 by Rico Rodriguez, Queers In Your Ears is a collective 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.

Clare Nobbs

Jeffrey Canton

Rico Rodriguez

Rico Rodriguez is a storyteller, story writer, drag performer, percussionist, teacher and Union Representative. He delivers highly energetic and participatory storytelling shows. He tells personal stories and folktales, fables and legends from the rich and diverse LatinX cultures. His stories are infused with equity and social justice themes. He tells in Spanish, English, and in Spanglish. He is one of the founders of Queers in Your Ears.

T.J. Banate

T.J. Banate (aka the Noise Witch) (they/them) is a storyteller, artist, and art therapy graduate student, weaving stories from the strange, chaotic, and joyful absurdities of life. Through art, ritual, and a deep love of animals and nature, their work explores creativity, ancestral healing, magic and the wildness of being human.

Parent-Child Mother Goose

The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program® is a joyful, physically close, and interactive program in which parents and their young children learn to share the power and pleasure of oral rhymes, songs, and stories. Originated in 1984 and still operating an active PCMG National Council with the shared goal of sharing the benefits of the Mother Goose program and workshops to more and more families everywhere.