One of the most versatile voices in storytelling today, Diane’s startling adaptations of traditional tales arch from a rollicking “New Age” version of Gawain and the Green Knight to classics like the Irish myth Deirdre of the Sorrows. Her dynamic style of telling, in which she fully embodies the characters and scenes, bringing each moment alive, won her the first national ORACLE AWARD for Storytelling Excellence in the Northeast. Publisher’s Weekly called Diane, “…a virtuoso of the spoken word…an entire cast rolled into one!” Whether exploring folktales, ancient myths, original stories or personal tales, Diane’s beautifully articulated pieces and “embodied telling” bring the listener straight into the heart of the story. A featured teller on NPR and winner of a Year’s Best Performance award for her theater work in Boston, Diane’s storytelling has been featured at prestigious venues throughout the country for over twenty-five years. She has been an invited teller to the National Storytelling Festival and the International Storytelling Center and is the author of A Fire in My Heart, the first book of Kurdish folktales ever to be published in English.

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, 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  A Thousand Doorways which chronicles her journeys in the Kurdish region of Turkey, gathering stories in remote mountain villages.

Read Diane’s article on Tree Myths and Time, originally published in Storytelling Magazine in 2001.

Current Projects

Aside from her dynamic storytelling performances, Diane is working on some truly unusual projects! Her ongoing “Kurdish Storytelling Project” to gather the folkloric tales of the Kurds, two books in process and “Living Myth Events,” which link unique landscapes with evocative myths.

Past Performances

Diane’s work as a full time touring storyteller and theatre artist has taken her to many wonderful venues. Look here for a partial list of some of these performance spots and view a slide show of Diane performing, “Sacred Cherry Tree” at the Haru-Matsuri Spring Festival in Copley Square, Boston.

In Performance at the National Storytelling Festival

Enjoy images from Diane’s performances at the National Storytelling Festival.