In October of 1996, thirty-eight storytellers and many more story lovers gathered at Jackson's Mill for the first annual West Virginia Storytelling Festival. This event helped further the cause of storytelling in West Virginia with the official creation of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild. Prior to that, individual storytellers of West Virginia were working hard to keep the cultural art of storytelling from slipping away into time. Through their hard work, a time-honed craft has been saved for future generations.

Twenty-some years later, in 2024 we had 50 members from 6 states: MD, PA, OH, KY, even Massachusetts, and of course WV. In the new year we hope to increase membership to serve even a larger area of our beloved region. We are a diverse group who come to storytelling from different angles. Some of us perform stories on a regular basis at places such as schools, libraries, churches, festivals, and civic organizations, to name a few. Anyone wanting to see who the performing storytellers are and what their contact information is can visit the MEET OUR MEMBERS section on this website. Then there are those of us who like to share stories within the context of our careers. For example, we are librarians, teachers, school counselors, business people, youth workers, and ministers. And last but not least, we are listeners.  We love to attend storytelling events as often as possible to hear tales spun by others. Without us listeners, there would be no one to hear the stories.

To sum it up, the West Virginia Storytelling Guild shares stories, teaches storytelling and grows new storytellers and story listeners. We honor those who provide outstanding service and recognition to storytelling in our state. We keep traditions alive and foster new growth.  We are proud to represent West Virginia’s rich storytelling culture.

2025 Officers
President: Judi Tarowsky
Vice President and Membership Chair: Katie Ross
Treasurer: Otto Ross
Secretary: Jo Ann Dadisman
Board Members: Bill Hairston, Jodi French-Burr and Adam Booth
Email Director: Teri Lott
Website Coordinator: Jodi French-Burr