The «Story Telling Waves» workshops were born from the whispers of the Aegean air when I traveled for the first time with the ferry boat «Pantofla» from Milos to Kimolos. The Hellenic Tourism Organization has under its auspices the «Story Telling Waves» Workshops as part of the «Kimolos Experience» Festival, organized by the Kimolistes NGO, on the CycladicIsland of Kimolos, in the South Aegean Sea.
Storytelling is the most direct way of communication with the storyteller delivering his/her audience to a real or imaginary world. Storytellers have no age as long as they are observant of their surroundings and spontaneous when they bring the story to light using their own words and the appropriate grimaces.
Storytelling is a part of everyone’s life. Any story once narrated to our friends either due to an incident or being the outcome of any event, maybe with elements of fiction included; is a narrative with unique characteristics. Those ones that make it unforgettable!
The «Story Telling Waves» workshops have to do with the Creative Writing Courses at Primary Schools of the South Aegean Islands, more specifically in the Cyclades, as well as on the islands of the Ionian Sea. The idea emerged from the Aegean waves while traveling to the emerald island of Kimolos. I listened to the islanders’ narrating moments of their lives, funny and serious adventures that led me to write “A Young Kimolistas” a children’s picture book about Kimolos, including them, too.
“Weaving Waves” Publications were born in June 2022, with the goal to give the children of the Cyclades islands the opportunity to put their stories in a book. In this way. All of us will get to know the Cycladic culture, the customs, the tradition, the people who keep the islands untouched, and each island’s distinct identity.
In the Ionian Islands, the lace-embroidered Lefkada welcomed us first on June 23 & 24, 2022, onLafcadio Hearn’s days. There we had the honor and pleasure of officially starting our workshop«Story Telling Waves». In the Cyclades, our very first stop was on the emerald Kimolos on August 19 & 20, 2022. Our future goal is to sail to the rest of the Cycladic islands.
Our aim is to spread the love of reading through creative writing so that once each child holds his own book in his hands, feels the joy of expressing his feelings that are going to dominate in our hearts afterward.
Through discussion after listening to mini-narratives from the young storytellers, we aim at interaction, initiation and inspiration, exchange, enrichment, and recording of unknown information that consists an integral part of our Greek way of life and culture.
The children’s words will travel to distant places where Greek children wish to know their homeland. The words will leave for unknown places, like the waves. They will anchor to get to know numerous places and travel even further. Until words become countless like the stars.
There will be posts about the «Story Telling Waves» workshops on our website. Do come and travel together to the South Aegean and the Ionian Sea.
