December 22, 2022

A few weeks ago, I completed a weeks-long training to become a digital storytelling facilitator. Stories For Change: The Covid Years is a year-long project that aims to address inequities experienced in our community as a result of the pandemic. Led by Jen Nowicki Clark and Laura Porfirio of Creative Narrations and supported by the City of Tucson and Pima Community College, fifteen of us wrote our stories, chose images and made editing choices to produce an individual story reflecting our diverse experiences. 

The multimedia first-person stories are available for anyone to view on Vimeo. Mine is called Art Heals, about how I used SoulCollage® as an outlet for creativity to express my experiences and feelings during Covid. You can see Art Heals here.

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September 30, 2022

Writer Ethel Lee Miller‘s article, SoulCollage®: An Unexpected Tool for Stroke Recovery, was featured in the October issue of the SoulCollage newsletter. In it, she insightfully discusses the benefits she derived from a couple of SoulCollage workshops I facilitated. Ethel’s depth of investigation into her stroke recovery is truly inspirational.

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April 16, 2022

My article “SoulCollage® for Writers and Other Creatives” has been published in the April 2022 SoulCollage® facilitator’s newsletter, The Netter Letter.  The article discusses the interface between the two creative disciplines and how they can work together. It is only available to facilitators who have joined the World of SoulCollage® online community. To learn more about SoulCollage®, click here.

This card is called The Navigator. It’s an example of working with images as a tool to unlock writing concepts and themes.

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December 24, 2021

I have been turned into a reptile by the incredibly innovative artist Laura Milkins. Thank you, Laura, for melding my image with this beautiful endangered, extremely aquatic & secretive Mexican Gartersnake. I’m honored to join the series.

As a writer, storyteller, SoulCollage® facilitator, and visual artist I have the privilege of associating with a host of creative people, and sometimes even collaborating (in this case all I did was share a photo of me taken by Silvia Kolchens.)
 

Here’s a little about Laura from her website, “Laura Milkins is an interdisciplinary artist living in Tucson, AZ. Her work explores vulnerability, intimacy, and cultural norms, using a variety of media: online-interactive performance, video, drawing, painting, and live radio/podcasting. Through storytelling, her work examines the connection between technology, community and notions of identity.” You can also find her on Facebook. 

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December 2, 2021

My personal essay, “Tattoo,” is in the anthology, ADULT CHILDREN, from Universal Table/Wising Up Press. 

From the publisher: In this Wising Up Anthology, fifty writers explore—with zest, angst, humor, humility, anger, and love—through stories, poems, memoirs, and creative non-fiction, our constantly changing and, hopefully, maturing relationships with those we raised and those who raised us. 

You can read it here, or you can order a copy of the anthology here.
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May 13, 2021

Grant Recipient, Arizona Commission on the Arts 2021 Artist Research and Development Grant. See more about this on my blog. 
 

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March 2021  

Finalist, Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Writing Competition. Invited to participate in Masters Writing Workshop.

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November 2020

SoulCollage® Facilitator Training with Mariabruna Sirabella
SoulCollage® is an expressive arts practice done individually or in community, and I’m excited about being able to offer workshops. Founded by Seena B. Frost, the method develops creativity and intuition, encourages self-discovery, and provides personal guidance. You don’t have to be an artist to make SoulCollage® cards. Anyone can create and enjoy this powerful practice. 

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December 2, 2019

Interview with Tyler Barton, co-founder of  Fear No Lit for “Learning How to Reading” series with lit events hosts. You can read the interview here.

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May 14, 2018

Review of The Radical Act of Community Storytelling in the Sonoran Arts Network, an online arts journal. You can read the review here.

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April 24, 2018

Interview along with Jen Nowiki Clark of Odyssey Storytelling on the Morning Blend show of KGUN9 TV. You can hear the interview here.

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January 6, 2018

Review of The Radical Act of Community Storytelling in the Arizona Daily Star. You can read the review here.

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January 4, 2018

Review of The Radical Act of Community Storytelling in the Winter 2018 issue of Storytelling Magazine, a publication of the National Storytelling Network.

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December 15, 2017

Review of The Radical Act of Community Storytelling in the December 2017 Story Circle Journal, Vol. 21, Number 4.

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December 13, 2017

Essay, “Kitchen Revolution,” Inside and Out: Women’s Truths, Women’s Stories, Story Circle Network.

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July 7, 2017

Thanks to Shannon Turner  (blogger, storyteller, creative director of StoryMuse) for asking me about my tattoo over dinner one night in Kansas City where we were both attending the National Storytelling Network’s annual conference. Of course, I told her the story and she turned it into a charming interview. You can read her post and hear the interview here: Penelope’s Stars.

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May 2, 2017

Essay, “Creating Connections, One Story at a Time,” National Storytelling Network blog. Read it here. 

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March 19, 2017

Interview by Aspen Green and Kathy Harris, “Broad Perspectives”, on KXCI Community Radio, 91.3 FM Tucson, AZ

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March 17, 2017

Interview with Mark McLemore on “Arizona Spotlight,” Arizona Public Media. Listen to it here.

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February 2, 2017

Interview, “Story For Life,” Sherilyn Forrester interviewed Penelope and Molly McCloy about Odyssey Storytelling and Penelope’s new book. Read the article here.

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July 13, 2016

Interview by Steve Pender of Family Legacy Video. Listen to “The Power of Personal Storytelling,” Legacy Video Lounge Podcast – LVL 11 here