Do you have a good story?

Lynn Canal Community Players is seeking stories for a storytelling “café” to be held monthly at the Chilkat Center.

Inspired in part by similar programs like “Mudrooms” in Juneau, Anchorage’s “Arctic Entries,” and NPR’s “StoryCorp,” “River Talk” will feature seven stories – seven minutes or less – told by residents in a café atmosphere including live music, homemade treats and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

“This has been real popular elsewhere,” said Annette Smith of LCCP. Every person has stories that are interesting, she said. “You don’t have to be a professional storyteller to be good at telling stories. When stories are told from the heart, they’re compelling.”

Stories can be crazy, sad, funny or bad, Smith said. Stories for the first “River Talk,” to be held 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20 at the Chilkat Center, will be based on the theme “Break Up.” “The theme is loosely interpreted,” Smith said.

Admission is $7; storytellers get in free.

Stories reflect a place and time that are unique to a community and its residents and also tend to hold the wisdom and knowledge of people passed down through time, Smith said. The advance of technology and new media haven’t diminished the appeal of the spoken word, she said.

A second “River Talk” will be held Thursday, April 20, and the series will be continued next winter, Smith said.

For more information, including tips on telling stories, visit the LCCP website, chilkatcenter.org. To register as a storyteller, call 766-2708 or email [email protected].

Author