Finally! A big thank you for all those great stories on "What It Means To Be Connected in 2011." Turns out it's not all about the machines! Pheww! Our dear friend, Liesl Schillinger of the New York Times Book Review, paid tribute to the eight most innovative takes. Of Déjà Voodoo she writes: "Who is Toby Heaton? This is great. This reads like “The Wire.” It reminds me of Richard Price." You can find an excerpt from Toby's story below and the other seven tales here. They make for some great reading!
Oh, and a quick plug: keep sharing your stories with PenTales. We started this little tale-swapping project about two years ago. Since then:
We've organized over 50 storytelling events in 27 cities around the world (including Damascus, Paris, Lahore, and Mexico City)
We've worked with the City of New York to run storytelling workshops in low-income communities across New York City
We've partnered with great organizations like the BMW Guggenheim Lab, The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, BBOX Radio, European Magazine and the Itaca Festival to come up with new ways to engage people in story-sharing
We offer the PenTales family (you!) a lovely room in Berlin to stay for free to do creative work
We've shared over 2000 of your tales in text, video, photo and audio online
We have an active online community of over 6000 people who share our belief that both their stories and those of others matter
That's kind of a lot... we think. Particularly given the fact that we all have jobs and are just doing this for kicks. Enough patting ourselves on the back! This is just to say thank you for being a part of PenTales and helping us build a better, more connected world through stories. (Yes, that's the ultimate mission, and we're not embarrassed about it!)
Keep sharing with us and we'll do the same.
Love, Stephanie, Saskia, Ezra, Louisa, Tiffany, Aswini, Maham, Jeanny and the rest of the wonderful PenTales crew from all around the world
Oh, and a quick plug: keep sharing your stories with PenTales. We started this little tale-swapping project about two years ago. Since then:
We've organized over 50 storytelling events in 27 cities around the world (including Damascus, Paris, Lahore, and Mexico City)
We've worked with the City of New York to run storytelling workshops in low-income communities across New York City
We've partnered with great organizations like the BMW Guggenheim Lab, The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, BBOX Radio, European Magazine and the Itaca Festival to come up with new ways to engage people in story-sharing
We offer the PenTales family (you!) a lovely room in Berlin to stay for free to do creative work
We've shared over 2000 of your tales in text, video, photo and audio online
We have an active online community of over 6000 people who share our belief that both their stories and those of others matter
That's kind of a lot... we think. Particularly given the fact that we all have jobs and are just doing this for kicks. Enough patting ourselves on the back! This is just to say thank you for being a part of PenTales and helping us build a better, more connected world through stories. (Yes, that's the ultimate mission, and we're not embarrassed about it!)
Keep sharing with us and we'll do the same.
Love, Stephanie, Saskia, Ezra, Louisa, Tiffany, Aswini, Maham, Jeanny and the rest of the wonderful PenTales crew from all around the world
“Déjà Voodoo” by Toby Heaton, Asheville NC:
“Put the money in a bag,” Georgie said to the guy behind the counter who looked like some kind of gook. The words came out as ‘puhdamoneeinaba.’ An hour before he and Lurleen had done speedballs with a six-pack of Bud. READ ON
“Put the money in a bag,” Georgie said to the guy behind the counter who looked like some kind of gook. The words came out as ‘puhdamoneeinaba.’ An hour before he and Lurleen had done speedballs with a six-pack of Bud. READ ON
PenTales was created in New York City by two childhood friends who've always loved to swap tales. We're now a community of thousands around the world who share our perspectives in person and online in photography, writing, and video on topics that unite us all.
©2011 PenTales New York NY
