Storytellers

NTIF is proud to announce the following story tellers for the 2009 festival.  Story tellers will be performing children's programs on the Urchin Street stage in addition to "older" children's programs on the Cashel stage

John Burleson

John has been telling stories for 20 years at festivals, libraries, concerts, schools, and clubs, drawing material from Texas, the American West, and the British Isles. His trail of appearances spans from New Mexico, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, Ontario, the Republic of Ireland, and the North of Ireland.

Liz Covington

Elizabeth "Liz" Covington is an active member of several Celtic organizations, & has been with NTIF, the Austin Celtic Festival, & the Celtic Heritage Festival for the past 6 years. She is also an active member of the Tejas Storytelling Association & the Tarrant Area Guild of Storytellers as a Storyteller/Oral Historian. She performs at Schools, Museums, Retirement Centers, Civic Clubs, Libraries, Festivals, Stories Under the Stars, teaches storytelling, and leads Ladies retreats.

Curt Marcus Jr.

Curt Marcus Jr. has been a 'fixture' of the North Texas Irish Festival for nearly a quarter of a century. He has in recent years begun sharing his knowledge of Irish and Scottish history, especially as embodied in their folk song traditions, with audiences at CelticFest Mississippi as well as NTIF.

Having survived the Battle of Culloden (April 1746) by quick thinking and even quicker feet, Curt (to use his current name), of the Eason sept of Clan Mackintosh, became enchanted with Celtic music while hiding among the clans in the Scottish Highlands with Bonnie Prince Charlie. When the British Army began recruiting Scottish regiments in the 1760s, Curt joined the army but changed his name and deserted to the American side when his unit was sent to fight in New York in 1776.

His interest in history (or "current events", as it was at the time) was broadened to include Irish events and music when he became acquainted with General Thomas Meagher, and was made a colour sergeant in Meagher's Irish Brigade during the American Civil War. Carrying his love for Scotland, Ireland and their music down to the present time, Curt has been sharing his knowledge of Celtic history, especially as embodied in Celtic folk songs, with the current generation at Celtic festivals across the southern US.

Jane McDaniel

Born 1945 in Limerick, Ireland, Jane started to write and retell stories at an early age (8 years old), thanks in part to a rich family storytelling tradition. She lived to a certain extent between two cultures, as her father was English and a staunch Protestant, and her mother was from Belfast and Catholic. She attended schools in Limerick and university in Germany, and worked in Germany as a business journalist and radio news reporter  for 26 years before moving to the USA in 1993. She first told stories to a larger public while hosting annual St. Patrick’s Day specials for AFN Forces Radio Network in Frankfurt, Germany.

Jane has told her tales at: Folklife Festival, San Antonio, TX (1997-2003); Folklife Festival, Corpus Christi, TX (1996-2006); Folklife Festival, Natchitoches, LA (2008); elementary and middle schools, libraries, retirement homes, corporate events and Adult Education classes (Oasis Organization for Adult Learning). She has taught storytelling and Irish Culture, and told stories at the Milwaukee, WI. Irish Fest, (2008). She has conducted Second Step, a violence prevention program for 5th graders combined with storytelling at Castle Hills Elementary school in San Antonio. Jane travels regularly to Achill Island, Ireland for storytelling and story-collecting sessions with Anthony Kilbane, a 94-year old seanachai, and is a member of the USA National Storytelling Network (NSN) and the San Antonio Storytellers’ Guild (SASA). Jane’s love for storytelling grew out of those evenings in Limerick, spent around the fire with neighbors. It is very personal and she treasures an intimate relationship with the great Celtic myths and romances, and delight in telling rollicking Irish folk tales as well as stories of Irish country people from the 1950s.

Jane’s accomplishments include: Rising Star, Texas State Storytelling Festival (Denton, 2002); US National Irish Storytelling Champion (2004 – 2007); voted The Biggest Irish Liar in Texas (2006).

Rickey Pittman

Rickey E. Pittman, Grand Prize Winner of the 1998 Ernest Hemingway Short Story Competition, is originally from Dallas, Texas. The award winning writer is a certified Secondary Gifted English teacher and currently teaches freshman composition at Louisiana Delta Community College and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The author and freelance editor earned a BA in New Testament Greek and an MA in English from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas.

After moving to Monroe, Louisiana, Pittman was added to the Louisiana Roster of Artists in 1998. Working closely with regional art councils, he was commissioned to write historical plays for Franklin, Madison, and Webster parishes. In addition to his freelance journalism, editing, and nonfiction writing, he has published short stories, poetry, and a novel, Red River Fever, and a collection of historical short fiction—Stories of the Confederate South. Pittman loves the South and sees himself as a Southern writer. His children’s picture books include Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House and The Scottish ABC children’s picture book, published by Pelican Publishing. Future children’s books include The Little Confederate’s ABC Book, The Irish ABC Book, and Sunday School with Professor Jackson.

Pittman is a Civil War re-enactor, a motivational speaker, a storyteller, and a guitarist/singer who performs Americana, original and period music relating to the Civil War and to the Scots-Irish. His books, including The Scottish Alphabet, may be ordered at his website www.rickeypittman.com

Gary Whitaker, "The Storyman"

Storyteller Gary Whitaker, The Storyman, is a lover of the Irish and Scottish Folk tales and legends. Whether he is telling a folk tale like Eachann’s Bull or a faery legend about the Good Folk and their mischievous ways or a tale about matching wits with a troll he will bring the stories to life with charm and wit. Gary tied for 2nd place in the 7th Annual National Irish Storytelling Contest held in Bourne Texas 2008. Gary has been performing in the children's area at the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas for over 5 years now.

On Saturday March 7 at 2pm Mr. Whitaker will be performing on the Adult Traditions Stage and will present his retelling of Beowulf.

Beowulf Retold is Mr. Whitaker's masterful retelling of the battle between Beowulf and Grendel. Like an ancient Scop he will weave the tale of this larger than life Hero in a modern day retelling. He will bring to life this epic tale in all of its viscous and dramatic force.

Mr. Whitaker spent two years developing his storytelling version of this ancient masterpiece. The late Professor Joseph E. Roesch ( a retired English professor in Hamilton, NY, who held a doctorate in Medieval English Literature and had taught Beowulf in College Courses ) reviewed Mr. Whitaker's version with delight: " Your delivery of Beowulf perfectly captures the dark and grim tone, that quality of sheer terror that makes this ancient poem more genuinely exciting than any other in our language….…. No mere reading of the text of Beowulf, either in the original or in translation, can achieve that effect the way your oral interpretation does." A Recording of this presentation can be found on his CD Tales of Ancient Warriors. This presentation is not to be missed. www.storymantales.com