Schomburg Center Literary Festival 2023: Personal Storytelling Workshop

Presented in collaboration with The Moth Community Programs

There is power in sharing your personal stories—the power to spark meaningful connections, to deepen self-awareness, and even to inspire social change. Over the course of a 2-hour intro to personal storytelling workshop, participants will have the opportunity to shape a life experience of your choosing into a well-crafted story. You will be guided by experienced Moth instructors who will help you recognize the elements of a compelling story, explore a unique story of your own, and connect more deeply with others in the room. As a highly verbal and interactive workshop, participants do not need to have any experience with writing or formal storytelling.

You do not need to have your story identified before the workshop begins; brainstorming story ideas is a part of Moth workshops!

Some of the things participants will experience include:

• Introduction to The Moth, storytelling principles, and why stories matter
• Watch a Moth story
• A brave and encouraging space to share ‘mini-story’ with other participants
• Techniques for bringing stories alive and engaging audiences

After completing an introductory workshop, you’ll be eligible to receive special alumni benefits, including a SLAM pass that provides you and a guest free access to Moth SLAMS for an entire year.

PUBLIC NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER By registering for this event, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending an in-person program at The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold The New York Public Library, its Trustees, officers, agent and employees liable for any illness or injury. If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or suspect you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, please stay home.

Image: Community Program | photographed by Caroline Lacey for The Moth

The Moth is true stories, told live and without notes. We celebrate the ability of true, personal storytelling to illuminate both the diversity and commonality of human experience. Our work allows people all over the world and from all walks of life: astronauts, students, a dental hygienist, a hotdog eating champion, a mechanic, exonerated prisoners, veterans, Nobel laureates and everyone in between, to share their stories on stage in front of a live audience. Through live and virtual shows, storytelling workshops, a podcast, Peabody Award-winning Radio Hour, and New York Times Best Selling books, The Moth brings the power of personal storytelling to millions of people each year—creating community and building empathy around the world.

Learn more here: themoth.org

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AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.

The celebrates authors of African descent and champions literacy and books across genres to amplify Black history and culture. Festival programming features some of the most talented writers and influential figures in culture today. The festival is built on the foundation created by Arturo Schomburg–encouraging freedom of thought, the relentless pursuit of Black history, and the engagement of our imagination towards our collective freedom. 2023 marks its fifth year and will reconvene communities of book lovers to interact with their favorite authors in Harlem, USA. The festival hosts a marketplace of local organizations and vendors, NYPL mobile library, and programs for all ages. Readings, panel discussions, and workshops at the event range from prose to poetry, comic books to young adult novels, fiction and nonfiction. Visit our website at .

The festival will take place in Schomburg’s landmark building at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, as well as outdoors on 135th Street between Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevards, on stage named after Adam Clayton Powell and Zora Neale Hurston.

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PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at [email protected].

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Please note that professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

Artwork: "Generational Wealth", 2023 by Ernest A. Ford

Photo: 2022 Schomburg Center Literary Festival, author talk with Jason Reynolds and Roxane Gay; Isseu Diouf/Schomburg Center

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd, New York, United States