A photo slideshow of Diane Edgecomb accompanied by Margot Chamberlain at Haru-Matsuri Japanese Spring Festival
One of the most versatile voices in the storytelling movement today, Diane has been recognized by Publisher’s Weekly and others as a master of her craft. A New England’s favorite that tours regionally and nationally, Diane has created over 25 innovative performances for both families and adults. These range from Solstice Events rich in seasonal mythology to Celtic tales accompanied by harper and vocalist Margot Chamberlain. Aside from classic adaptations of myths and legends, Diane has created numerous original stories including the award-winning family fable Pattysaurus about a dinosaur maniac named Patty, Freddie and the Loon from Maine an upbeat rhyming tale of a New York cabbie who goes in search of a loon, Twilight of the Stones, a true ghost story about the standing stones of England and What Now, Cloacina?!!‘ a water conservation tale which has been published in story collections in America, Canada and England. Her personal stories include The Salmon of Wisdom and Forbidden Stories which chronicles her journeys in the Kurdish region of Turkey, gathering stories in remote mountain villages.
With a style of telling known for rich characterizations and a zany sense of humor, Diane is a regular teller at storytelling and theatre venue. She has been featured on NPR, the acclaimed Three Apples Storytelling Festival, Charlestown Working Theatre and has been invited to be Teller in Residence in August 2012 at the International Storytelling Center. Her first CD’s received starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly and two have received Honors Awards from Storytelling World. An advocate for storytelling, Diane was on the first steering committee of LANES the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling and is currently the Northeast Regional Director and board member of the National Storytelling Network. Her current project, collecting the unpublished stories of the last Kurdish storytellers in the mountains of Turkey, resulted in her first book “A Fire In My Heart; Kurdish tales which was published by Libraries Unlimited, Greenwood Press in January, 2008.
Diane is a storytelling artist on the roster of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an approved touring artist on the roster of the New England Foundation for the Arts.
“A storyteller in the grand tradition, Edgecomb is a virtuoso of the spoken word.” Publisher’s Weekly
Awards and Publications:
Awards:
Oracle Award from the National Storytelling Network for Regional Excellence 2011
Year’s Best Performance Award from the Boston Herald 1985
Storytelling World Honor’s Award: Pattysaurus and Other Tales (CD)
Storytelling World Honor’s Award: Deirdre of the Sorrows (CD)
Storytelling World Honor’s Award: A Fire in My Heart: Kurdish tales (book)
Published Stories and Books:
A Fire in My Heart: Kurdish Folktales published by Greenwood press in 2008 (Storytelling World Honor’s Award)
“What Now Cloacina?!” Diane’s hilarious water conservation story tells the tale of a water sprite who goes in search of her reservoir through the sewage system. Published in a collection by New Society Press 1991 and subsequently published in collections in Canada and England.
Pattysaurus and Other Tales (Storytelling World Honor’s Award)
New Age Gawain and the Green Knight
Deirdre of the Sorrows (Storytelling World Honor’s Award)
In the Groves (Currently in production)
In 2011 Diane received the first National ORACLE award for Storytelling Excellence in the Northeast