About

Kay Stone was born in Detroit, Michigan the year that the planet Pluto was discovered. Though there now seems to be some doubt about Pluto, Kay Stone is definitely still in this solar system, telling stories, offering workshops, writing, and dreaming. She has written dozens of articles and two books: Burning Brightly: New Light on Old Tales Told Today, and The Golden Woman: Dreaming as Art.

Art has been an abiding interest for decades, beginning with her crude sketches of horses in elementary school in Miami, Florida, where she grew up. She began her university studies as an art major at the University of Miami, but then discovered there were other exciting things to be explored. She studied anthropology, managed to complete undergraduate and graduate work in cultural geography, and then stumbled by accident into folklore and completing a doctoral degree at Indiana University in 1975. Her dissertation was an exploration of women in folktales, which led her to a teaching position in the English department at the University of Winnipeg for almost three decades. There, Kay discovered that telling tales was even more interesting than teaching about them. Her writing grew from exploring different aspects of folktales as a literary art and performance art.

And then there were dreams. We all dream, of course, but most of us don't pay much attention. Kay did, remembering dreams she had in early childhood, and keeping a written record of adult dreams for many years. She finally managed to bring her love of art, folktales, and dreams together in The Golden Woman, which also includes bits and pieces of anthropology, geography, horses, and many dreams of trying to find a lost planet.

She also used to dream of snow, and perhaps that is why Kay has lived in Winnipeg, Canada, since 1969, where she continues to write, dream, and tell stories.

Kay Stone's Curriculum Vitae

Other Activities

Kay Stone is a founding member of two storytelling groups in Winnipeg:

Stone Stoup Stories of Winnipeg (founded 1982) An informal gathering of tellers of various backgrounds and interests. The group meets monthly at the Fireside Room at the Unitarian Church (603 Wellington Crescent) and is open to anyone who wishes to practice the art of storytelling or of listening. Upcoming 2005 dates: January 21, February 18, March 18, April 15, and May 20.

Eldertales (founded in 1994) is a group of senior tellers who gather monthly to choose and practice traditional and personal stories to be told in local school, seniors' centres, and other venues as requested. The group meets at Creative Retirement on Sherbrook Street on the second Tuesday of every month, from September through May.

Kay is also a founding member of Earthstory, a storytelling trio, with Mary Louise Chown and Jane Cahill.

Earthstory (founded in 1991)is a trio of women (Kay Stone, Jane Cahill, Mary Louise Chown), all experienced tellers who have performed traditional tales and myths, individually and together, over the past decade. They have appeared in a wide variety of venues that include the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Manitoba Museum, Manitoba Children's, and a number of educational conferences, and most recently as part of a concert series of stories and music, The Magic of One.

For the past two years she has been one of the three organizers of the Magic of One storytelling/music concert series, taking place in the sanctuary of the Unitarian Church at 603 Wellington Crescent. Please check the events page for complete information.