Storytellers of Canada - Conteurs du Canada (SC-CC) is devoted to connecting people, reflecting culture, and inspiring discovery through the Art of Storytelling.
“Listen Up and Be Amazed: That’s the Art of Storytelling.”
We Value:
- The roots of storytelling as an oral tradition to pass on one to another;
- Oral storytelling as a performing art, and storytellers who have professional aspirations;
- Oral storytelling reflecting diversity and intangible cultural heritage;
- Listeners of all ages hearing stories told in a variety of settings, languages and for different
Purposes:
- Storytellers and supporters working together for artistic excellence, creation and innovation.
What is your expertise?
SC-CC has supported professional storytellers, listeners and the art of oral storytelling for over 26 years. In 1993, a small group of determined storytellers met in Montreal to form a national network. From this modest beginning, the group gained non-profit and charitable status within seven years and was soon thereafter designated as a National Arts Service Organisation by Canada Council for the Arts.
Today, SC-CC remains the only national Canadian storytelling organisation, representing individual storytellers, guilds and groups across the country including urban, rural, coastal and northern communities, as well as English, French, Indigenous, Newcomer and Emerging artists. Programming and services are offered in both official languages. SC-CC delivers more than 30 quality projects, activities and direct services which are led directly by our highly engaged members. Each year close to one hundred volunteers, act as project officers, coordinators, committee members, advisors, elected board members, regional representatives and fundraisers.
What kind of activities do you organise?
ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE
SC-CC’s signature event rotates locations across Canada for 4 - 6 days each summer. A local coordinating committee arranges facilities, venues, accommodation, catering, and programming within clear financial and contractual obligations with SC-CC. Members from local Indigenous communities are integral to the planning, themes, and honour ceremonies of conferences. This tremendous undertaking attracts delegates from all over Canada, the US and internationally.
OUTREACH PROGRAMS
- Indigenous Advisory Council
- Indigenous Outreach Coordinator
- French Outreach Coordinator
DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS
- Bi-monthly newsletter Tell all - Dis tout
- Biannual magazine Le Raconteur
- Professional Guide for storytellers in progress
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
- Online access to local and national police clearance service (discounted for SC-CC members)
- Showcase member’s works and merchandise in the Member’s online library
- Group insurance through the Writer’s Coalition
- Online conferencing service for members working on committees and reference groups
- Social media accounts for communications and networking
- Bilingual website
ADVOCACY
- Foster awareness of oral storytelling as a distinct and professional art form
- Develop relationships with other national gatherings and professional associations
- Short documentary celebrating 25th anniversary (2018) promoting SC-CC and the art of storytelling
- Encourage members to be peer assessors on arts council juries,
- Ensure storyteller representation during grant competitions
- Newsfeed from the Canadian Arts Coalition
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT/PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES
- Canadian Storytelling Night–Soirée nationale du conte, founded eight years ago by SC-CC as a Fallcounterbalance to the spring World Storytelling Day. SC-CC provides micro-grants to organising members of both these events.
- World Storytelling Day is held around the March equinox, March 20. This global celebration forges links between storytellers, attracting public and media attention to storytelling as an art form.
- Telling Tuesday is another SC-CC initiative growing throughout North America with promotion of free storytelling events on the 2nd Tuesday of October. #tellingtuesday
- The SC-CC House Concert Network is a unique service for members connecting touring storytellers with home venue hosts.
- Online directory of members to source Storytellers for events
- Audience survey template to collect data to inform future events
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
- Through an online nomination and application process, awards are guided by a code of ethics policy
- Emerging Teller Award offers 4 months’ mentoring by an accomplished teller; both receive a small cash award.
- Storykeeper Award recognizes outstanding storytellers with a small cash award.
- StorySave Teller Award offers an accomplished elder teller production of a professional digital recording (CD and digital download). Details in “preservation & archiving.”
PRESERVATION
- StorySave Program: Saving the voices of the elders, one story at a time. Each year, a teller is chosen from nominees across Canada with a marked personal style, and body of stories to be kept alive. SC-CC pays for the professional production of a CD and digital downloads accessible to listeners world-wide as part of a living legacy. Since 2018, an audio documentary on the teller accompanies the album.
- StorySave Quilt with accompanying book. Combining the art forms of quilting and storytelling, volunteers create unique squares under a common theme. The stories that quilters tell of their squares are compiled into a book. Both quilt and book are raffled at the annual conference with proceeds targeted for next year’s StorySave recording project.
- Radio/Podcast Program streams a rotating selection of memorable stories from the StorySave collection as well as recorded submissions from SC-CC members. The Children’s program is a new initiative 2019/2020. Another initiative, SC-CC is a building a Radio Rover Network. The Flavelle Family Foundation sponsored equipment and training for member volunteers to learn about recording and delivering compelling radio/podcast content.
