Micaela Blei, PhD, has years of experience working with individuals, organizations, and communities to shape and share the important stories of their lives. Last year at the SAA Annual Meeting in Austin she hosted the storytelling-show-about-archives, “A Finding Aid to My Soul,” to great acclaim! Her popular workshops are invitations to reflection, spaces for discovery, and—most of all—a lot of fun. Her own stories have been called “heartbreaking and hilarious.” She’s appeared on The Moth Radio Hour and live on sold-out storytelling stages nationwide. In 2016, Micaela wrote The Moth’s storytelling curriculum, now used by more than 1,500 educators around the world. Learn more at micaelablei.com.

A powerful story has the potential to connect us to our own experiences, pull a community together, and engage new audiences with our work. In this master class storytelling workshop sponsored by the Committee on Public Awareness (COPA) and led by two-time Moth GrandSLAM winner (and former Moth director of education) Micaela Blei, you’ll learn “what makes a story work” and the connections among narrative performance, research, and teaching, as well as brainstorm and craft stories of your own. The workshop is structured to make the online experience as engaging and welcoming as possible—using a webinar format and then an optional small-group discussion structure to allow you to take part in the workshop at the level that will best serve you.

After this workshop, you’ll have the chance to submit your story for possible performance in a special online storytelling event—“A Finding Aid to My Soul” on October 1, 2020! If selected, you’ll receive additional guidance from Blei to help fine tune your story.

Register for the workshop here ($49 fee), and stay tuned for more details about the third annual “A Finding Aid to My Soul” storytelling event.

Stories from the 2019 event, including one from Micaela herself can be found on Season 3 of the Archives in Context podcast and stories from the 2018 event can be found here and here. To learn more about Micaela, check out this ArchivesAware! interview from 2019.