When the sun sunk into the west and the moon appeared in the east, Khojisteh went to the parrot to ask leave and said, “O thou wise bird, whose counsels are prudent and who acts the part of a friend! If you think it adviseable, delay not today in giving me permission, or else speak […]
Tales of a Parrot: Of a Brahmin Falling in Love
This droll story is of Hindu extraction, and in much the same form is still current in Southern India. In the “Exposition” prefixed to the Dubois’ French translation of the Tamil version of the Panchatantra, p. 15, it is given with a few unimportant variations: The name of the king is Nihla-Keton, his country is
Once upon a time there lived an emperor who was a great conqueror, and reigned over more countries than anyone in the world. And whenever he subdued a fresh kingdom, he only granted peace on condition that the king should deliver him one of his sons for ten years’ service. Now on the borders of
The Girl Who Pretended to be a Boy
Live Performance 2010 Ivan tells the story of losing the local barber without notice and the hunt for a new one.
This edition of Tell Us Something was recorded on August 19th, 2014 at the Top Hat Lounge in Missoula, MT. The theme was “Busted!” This week’s story comes to us from Ingrid Beihl and is titled “That Really Happens?” Ingrid Biehl is a 16 year old high school student trying to figure out her sexuality.
“We’re very clear in our teaching. We believe every single person born on this planet is created by God out of love . . . in the image and likeness of the Holy One. And so our struggle to understand and accept gay people is a human problem, not some flaw or error in God’s
Reclaiming God, Reclaiming Ourselves
Once upon a time, in a land just a few blocks away, I had the unrequited desire to be a drag queen. The lesbians could make no sense of it. “You can’t be a drag queen. You’re a girl.” I was undeterred. I had had a lifetime of people telling me what I could not
I have been able to tell my own story in schools, anti-homophobia conferences, storytelling festivals, and other venues. Of all the places where I tell this story, schools have been the most challenging. I believe it is important to go into schools and do this work because if there is even one student questioning his
The Master Thief claimed me from the start. The title itself jumped out at me from a whole long list of Grimm’s tales I was perusing looking for something I might want to learn to tell. I read through it, and I knew it was telling my story–pieces I had lived and pieces I longed
BZ Smith says: I’m looking for Transgender material, and am trying to get started on a piece centered on Prince Hedgehog…born in unlovable skin, so to speak. Just starting on this. I have a transgender family member & want to work on the piece as a tribute to this unparalleled act of courage. There was
