When the WORD blog team put their hand up to cover different sessions at WORD Christchurch, I was fortunately alone in choosing both "The Storyteller" and "Black and Blue Storytelling" with Ivan E. Coyote. As the event continued and audiences enjoyed the stories, people kept coming back for more and more. By Sunday morning, "The Storyteller" session was sold out and WORD volunteers brought more chairs in.
Ivan hails from the Yukon, Canada and their stories are autobiographical, exploring family history and dynamics, gender identity, social justice and equality. At times self-deprecating, but with a good sprinkling of wit and humour so that the messages they are conveying are all the more powerful for being from personal experience. To deliver these messages in any other way, would perhaps come across as a lecture. Ivan has taken pains to point out that that is not their intention. In a Radio New Zealand interview Ivan explained that the medium they use is very traditional, whilst the subject matter is not. They write the story down and craft it before learning it, then once it is learnt, they are able to really tell it and tweak it and ad-lib for the audience. The result is a very natural, polished telling by a gifted raconteur.
Autobiographical storytelling requires a fine balance between truth and privacy. Ivan applies a strict set of criteria to their writing / telling. They ensure that the story is honouring and they thoroughly examine their own motivation in writing the story - for example are they trying to ensure that they have the last word? The essence of this is ensuring that they show compassion and that they "use their powers for good". Ever since the sessions during WORD, I keep thinking what a great attitude and approach it is to aim to make everyone, even the most challenging person in the room comfortable and included. At the end of the day, why can't we all just get along?
Ivan uses story to recount interactions with people with absolute attention to detail. "I'm not so much OCD but ATD - that's attention to detail". Through "Scars" we learnt a little about the mysterious world of a hand model, the map of childhood accidents and ultimately the effect of top surgery. This was moving for both the teller and the listeners. The humane telling elicits empathy, groans and sighs from the audience. On Sunday morning there was barely a dry eye in the room.
The session ended on a lighter note with Ivan telling a series of "literary doritos" short, bite-sized stories inspired by overheard snippets of conversation and a standing ovation.
I asked Ivan if they intended readers to read their collections in order, as it seemed that Missed Her was intended that way. Ivan said that it didn't matter although the Tomboy Survival Guide would probably be better if it was read in order. You read it here first...
Find stories by Ivan Coyote in the library catalogue
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