Storytelling with Lyn Ford

Lyn Ford is a fourth-generation storyteller who shares the gifts and heritage of orature from her Affrilachian family.  Lyn is a nationally recognized raconteur and workshop presenter, an award-winning writer, a Thurber House mentor to young authors, a teaching artist with the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE) and the Ohio State-Based Collaborative Initiative of the Kennedy Center (OSBCI), and a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher.

Lyn’s work is published in several storytelling-in-education resources, as well as in her award-winning books, Affrilachian Tales; Folktales from the African-American Appalachian Tradition, Beyond the Briar Patch:  Affrilachian Folktales, Food and Folklore, and Hot Wind, Boiling Rain: Scary Stories for Strong Hearts.  Lyn’s latest book (with storytelling friend Sherry Norfolk), Boo-Tickle Tales: Not-So-Scary Stories for Kids, was published by Parker Brothers Publishing in the spring of 2017. A member of the National Association of Black Storytellers Circle of Elders, the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence, and the National Writing Project’s National Writers Council, Lyn feels her greatest rewards are the love of her family, the joy and interaction of children, and the gifts of carrying on her family’s spoken-word traditions.

In 2018, Lyn was a featured teller, keynote speaker and workshop presenter at the Sydney International Storytelling Conference in Australia, and a returning featured teller at the Cape Clear International Storytelling Festival in Ireland.