FRAN STALLINGS grew up in a tradition of family storytelling. Although she trained as a biologist (that's another story!) she has been a professional storyteller since 1978. As an Artist In Residence for the Oklahoma Arts Council from 1985 to 2001, she worked with thousands of students preK-12; she reaches thousands more through her workshops training their teachers and librarians in storytelling and its curriculum applications. Fran conducts workshops, residencies, and festival performances nationwide, in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, and Egypt. She has been an instructor at the National Summer Institute of Storytelling, the Asian Congress of Storytelling (Singapore), and at several National Storytelling Network annual conferences.
- If you'd like to know more about Fran, how she got into storytelling and what sorts of stories she tells, a short biography is available.
- Fran tells over three hundred multicultural traditional tales and original stories. She works with adults and all grades from preK-12. If you're interested in her performances or workshops, she can offer a list of sample titles along with recommendations.
- Every spring, Fran manages the American tours of traditional Japanese storyteller/educator Hiroko Fujita.
- As Earthteller, Fran trains zoo docents, park rangers, and environmental educators in the art of "telling science in the shape of story" for their fascinated listeners. You can listen to her Oct 24 07 interview about environmental storytelling on Eric Wolf's "The Art of Storytelling with Children" program.
- Storytelling is the most ancient method of teaching. Fran specializes in "Village Storytelling," training student storytellers. Her 1-3-week residencies involve students in oral retelling, creative dramatics, story creation, critical thinking, and much more.
- Fran and Lynn Moroney (Earth & Sky Storytellers) offer unique two-day "Celebrate Science" programs which provide teachers with in-service training during the regular school day while students experience story concerts and special activities.
- Fran received the 2007 Service/Leadership award from the National Storytelling Network for her work as NSN's Oklahoma State Liaison and for her contributions to state and regional storytelling organizations.
- Fran is a co-founder of Tallgrass Tellers, a storytelling group in Bartlesville, OK
- Fran has produced numerous recordings and publications, many of which you can mailorder from this website.