Liz Warren | Storyteller

Growing up I found stories really boring. Even though I had the ability to follow a plot and recall key details, I just didn’t find experiencing a story to be all that interesting. I would put off reading for my 4th grade reading log. When playing video games, I would skip dialogue and cut scenes,…

Stories possess the power to heal, divide, delight, and sadden those who hear them. Having worked in interdisciplinary fields that aim to uplift, enhance, and support the human experience, I believe storytelling is one of the most profound ways to achieve this. I grew up surrounded by stories—tales from the Bible, Greek and African mythology,…

For the storyteller in fact based storytelling, our sources are everything. Our sources bring us closer to what the facts are, and illustrate the world in a way fiction never can. However over the course of time, reporting and facts can become lost, distorted, or misrepresented, or oral traditions fade. Identifying pertinent, and authoritative sources…

Like a lot of people entering the era known as middle age, I began to search for ways to reclaim the bits of myself that had been lost to early parenthood. Mothering, though still very much a part of my life, looks different as my kids have aged. They no longer need me in the…

You’ve been asked to tell a story at an event –and you say, ‘yes!’ You quickly learn the event organizers are not 100% certain what they just asked for and some of the organizers originally thought you would be reading a story from a book. But that’s okay! It’s an opportunity to share and demonstrate…

Growing up the last of five children was quite an experience. My siblings were much older than me. My first recollections of childhood were being home and waiting for my brothers to come home from school. My oldest sister was married and had a home of her own. My other sister was out working all…

What do we do when our own country and culture  fails to recognize its various unsung heroes and their monumental contributions? We tell their stories to those who are willing to listen. In America, and likely in other countries, many crucial figures, such as women of color, are often disregarded and ignored in the academic…

I've never truly realized how big of a factor storytelling was in my life until I had to take a class about it. Going in, I thought that a storytelling class was going to be a pretty surface level, Dr. Seuss group reading type of class. How wrong I was. I had no idea that…

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis I am building my dream of becoming a dramatic storyteller on a strong foundation established during my lifetime as an actor, puppeteer, and playwright. As an actor, I’ve told other character’s stories in first person. As a puppeteer,…

“Never Doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has!” is one of my favorite quotes by Margaret Mead. At the heart of any change and particularly, every significant change, from civil rights movements to environmental activism has been a small group of…

With the use of more and more technology, I notice more and more eyes looking down on screens. I worry about what that means for our children and their interactions with other humans. We know technology is not going anywhere and it will continue advancing. We also know that humans are not going anywhere. That’s…

I love picture books! Picture books can address any topic- from the silly to the serious. They are fiction, folklore, mythology and nonfiction including biography, science, and history. The amount of text is controlled to convey a succinct story or set of facts. Picture books have very clear themes or main ideas. They often employ…