Storytelling Festivals
(alphabetical order)
Almost Bugaboo Springs Storytelling Festival, Denton, Texas
The Ark Storytelling Festival, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Azalea Storytelling Festival, LaGrange, Georgia
Bristol Hills Storytelling Festival, Elkhart, Indiana
By the Light of the Moon Storytelling Festival, Las Vegas, Nevada
Cave Run Storytelling Festival, Morehead, Kentucky
Cherokee Rose Storytelling Festival, Carrollton, Georgia
Chinquapin Folk Music and Storytelling Festival, Peoria, Illinois
Corn Island Storytelling Festival, Louisville, Kentucky
Detroit Storytelling Festival, Detroit, Michigan
Florida Storytelling Camp, Eustis, Florida
Forest Storytelling Festival, Port Angeles, Washington
Fox Valley Folk Music & Storytelling Festival, Geneva, Illinois
Harvest Moon Festival, Grand Rivers, Kentucky
Haunting in the Hills Storytelling Festival, Oneida, Tennessee
Hoosier Storytelling Festival, Indianapolis, Indiana
Illinois Storytelling Festival, Chicago, Illinois
Iron Mountain Storytelling Festival, Lake Wales, Florida
Jackson Storyfest, Jackson, Michigan
Kingdom Come Swappin' Meet, Cumberland, Kentucky
Laughing Tales & Terrifying Tales, Dayton, Ohio
Michigan Storytelling Festival, Flint, Michigan
National Storytelling Festival, Jonesborough, Tennessee
Northern Kentucky Storytelling Festival, Erlanger, Kentucky
Paris Storytelling Festival, Paris, Kentucky
Riverwinds Storytelling Weekend, Belleville, Illinois
St. Louis Storytelling Festival, St. Louis, Missouri
Smokey Mountains Storytelling Festival, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Stories by the Sea, Newport, Oregon
Story City Storytelling Festival, Story City, Iowa
Storytelling Festival of Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska
Storytelling in the Mountains, Harlan, Kentucky
Spirit of Oklahoma, Bethany,Oklahoma
WinterTales, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Winter Tales, Atlanta, Georgia
Other Performances
(alphabetical order)
American Studies Seminar, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Anderson County Senior Citizens Center, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Appalachian Educational Laboratory, Lexington, Kentucky
Appalachian Festival, Cincinnati, Ohio
Atria St. Matthews for The Kentucky Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Arts Center of the Bluegrass, Danville, Kentucky
Bady House Story Concert, Brooklyn, New York
Bell’s Tavern Heritage Festival, Park City, Kentucky
Bluegrass Bankers Association, Lexington, Kentucky
Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary, Frankfort, Kentucky
Carnegie Kentucky Great Writers Series, Lexington, Kentucky
Catholic Information Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Chickasaw Nation Annual Meeting and Festival, Tishomingo, Oklahoma
Children's Book Festival, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Clemson University's Professional Development Conferences for Women in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Cincinnati, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky
Coffee, Tea & Stories House Concerts, Frankfort, Louisville & Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Community Harvest Festival, Frankfort, Kentucky
Crown Hill Cemetery Ghost Tales for Storytelling Arts of Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana
Double-Edged Stories, Louisville, Kentucky
Embroiderers' Guild of America Conference, Louisville, Kentucky
Festival on the Square, Greensburg, Kentucky
Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky
Foust Artist Series, Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky
Frankfort Women’s Club, Frankfort, Kentucky
Girl Scouts Festival of the Arts, Louisville, Kentucky
Grand Theatre Children’s Series, Frankfort, Kentucky
Grapevine Storytelling Series, Washington, D.C.
Historic State Theatre, Elizabethtown, Kentucky
The Horse’s Mouth Storytelling Night, Lexington, Kentucky
House Concerts, Stodola & Claffy residences, Frankfort, Kentucky
Howl-o-ween at Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee
Indy Fringe Festival, Indianapolis, Indiana
International Farm Youth Exchange Conference, Lexington, Kentucky
Kentucky Partnership for Families and Children Conference, Lexington, Kentucky
Kentucky Retirees Conference, Lexington, Kentucky
The Kentucky State Fair, Louisville, Kentucky
Kentucky Women’s Book Festival, Louisville, Kentucky
Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, Kentucky
Mammoth Cave National Park, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, North Carolina
National Story Night, Jonesborough, Tennessee
Nazareth Arts for Life, Nazareth, Kentucky
New Year's Fest, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Newcomer's Club, Lexington, Kentucky
Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oldham County History Center, La Grange, Kentucky
Preston Lecture Series, Henderson Community College, Henderson, Kentucky
Psychiatric Nurses Association banquet, Lexington, Kentucky
River Park Center Summer Arts Camp & Family Program, Owensboro, Kentucky
Rose Valley Storytelling House Concert, Media, Pennsylvania
Ruehlmann House, Storytelling House Concert, Norfolk, Virginia
Singletary Center — performance series for K -1 grades & family performance for
the Art Museum, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Shelby County Homemakers Banquet, Shelbyville, Kentucky
Speak Easy, Columbus, Ohio
St. John’s Reading Club, Versailles, Kentucky
St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church, Cincinnati, Ohio
St. Martin of Tours Church, Halloween Festival, Flaherty, Kentucky
Storytellers Theater Series, Storytelling Arts of Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana
Teller in Residence, International Storytelling Center, Jonesborough, Tennessee
Tribble Parsonage, Richmond, Kentucky
Two Chairs Telling, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Wandering Storytellers, Lexington, Kentucky
Libraries & Museums
Kentucky History Center, Frankfort, Kentucky
Kingman Museum of Natural History, Battle Creek, Michigan
J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Owensboro Museum of Science and History, Owensboro, Kentucky
Highlands Museum, Ashland, Kentucky
Pennyroyal Museum, Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Battle Creek Public Library, Battle Creek, Michigan
Fairbanks Public Library, Fairbanks, Alaska
Maryville Public Library, Maryville, Ohio
Palmer Public Library, Palmer, Alaska
Kentucky Public Libraries in the following counties: Adair, Anderson, Bath, Madison, Boone, Bourbon, Boyle, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Carroll, Calloway, Estill, Fayette, Fleming, Franklin, Gallatin, Garrard, Grant, Graves, Grayson, Green, Hancock, Jefferson, LaRue, Laurel, Lawrence, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Martin, McCracken, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Nicholas, Owen, Pendleton, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rowan, Scott, Spencer, Trimble, Washington, Wayne, Wolfe, and Woodford.
Pre-K - Grade 12 Schools
In her home state of Kentucky, Mary has performed at schools in over 100 of Kentucky’s 120 counties. Most of those performances have been assemblies during the school day. In elementary schools she tells different stories to primary and intermediate students (her base fee includes two performances in the same location in the same half of the school day). At middle and high schools audience size is determined by the performance space available within the school.
Mary has also participated in school Family Nights of varied formats – whole audience performances, small group breakout session performances, and workshop sessions.
Her work was included on the Teaching Artist Roster of the Kentucky Arts Council from 1989 — 2021, and she conducted several 5 — 20-day school-based arts residencies.
She also conducted Poetry Out Loud workshops, on behalf of the Kentucky Arts Council, at high schools in Hickman, Ohio, Warren, Allen, Franklin, Clark, Campbell, Grant, Hardin, Meade, Letcher, Pike, Hart, Boyle, Mercer, Carter, and Floyd Counties.
In addition to working with schools in Kentucky, Mary has worked with schools in Florida, Oklahoma, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Alaska, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
Graduation Speaker, Meade County High School, Brandenburg, Kentucky 2005
Workshop Venues
(alphabetical order)
Anderson, Pulaski, Meade, Boone, and Larue County Early Childhood Councils, Kentucky
Arts Education Summit, Owensboro, Kentucky
Arts Unlimited, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
Bath County Family Literacy, Owingsville, Kentucky
Bloomington Storytellers Guild, Bloomington, Indiana
Chautauqua Development for Teachers Projects, storytelling sessions, Kentucky
Humanities Council, Lake City, Murray, and Bowling Green, Kentucky
Christmas Country Dance School, Berea, Kentucky
Detroit Storytelling Festival, Detroit, Michigan
Early Childhood Institute, Louisville, Kentucky
Fairbanks Public Library, Fairbanks, Alaska
Family Story, Family Celebration Workshop, Shepherdsville, Kentucky (co-facilitated with Cynthia Changaris through our Scheherazade’s Legacy partnership)
Florida Storytelling Camp, Eustis, Florida
Forest Storytelling Festival, Port Angeles, Washington
Fox Valley Storytelling Guild, Geneva, Illinois
Heritage Touring Conference, Frankfort, Kentucky
Indiana Library Federation, Children & Young Peoples Division, general session speaker, Columbus, Indiana
International Storytelling Institute, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
Kentucky Association of School Librarians Conference, Louisville, Kentucky
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky
Kentucky Public Library Association Conference, Louisville, Kentucky
Kentucky Speakers Association, Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky
Kentucky Storytelling Conference, Richmond & Burkesville, Kentucky
Kentucky Theatre Conference, Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington Public Library, Lexington, Kentucky
Lincoln Trail Region, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Elizabethtown, Kentucky
McConnell Children’s Literature Conference, Lexington, Kentucky
Miami-Dade County Public Library, Miami, Florida
National Storytelling Conferences in Cincinnati, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Bellingham, Washington & Phoenix, Arizona
National Storytelling Institute, Jonesborough, Tennessee
New England Speakers Association
NOLA, CAMLS, and NORWELD Regional Library Consortiums, Ohio
Northlands Storytelling Conference, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Oakland University, Oakland, Michigan
O.O. P. S! (Ohio Order for the Preservation of Storytelling) Conference, Mount Vernon, Ohio
Palmer Public Library, Palmer, Alaska
Paris Storytelling Festival, Paris, Kentucky
Prime Time Family Reading Time training (co-facilitating with additional training team members) for Kentucky Humanities
Riverwinds Storytelling Weekend, Belleville, Illinois (co-facilitated with Cynthia Changaris through our Scheherazade’s Legacy partnership)
Kentucky Counseling Association, Louisville, Kentucky (co-facilitated with Cynthia Changaris through our Scheherazade’s Legacy partnership)
Scott County Youth Theatre, Georgetown, Kentucky
Sharing the Fire Storytelling Conference, Warwick, Rhode Island
Smokey Mountains Storytelling Festival, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Speakers' Circle, Columbus, Ohio
Spellbinders Training, Lexington, Kentucky
Story City Storytelling Festival, Story City, Iowa
Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Storytellers’ Wild Week, Wildacres, North Carolina
Storytelling and Multicultural Education Workshops: Badgett Center, Madisonville, KY; Multicultural Opportunities Branch, Kentucky Department of Education (5 sites) Co-facilitated with Cynthia Changaris through our Scheherazade’s Legacy Partnership.
Storytelling Arts of Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana
Storytelling Festival of Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska
Storyworks Seminars, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and Southfield, Michigan (co-facilitated with Dawn Farley and Sarah McCoy through our Storyworks partnership)
Timpanogos Storytelling Conference, Orem, Utah
University of Kentucky, Guest Speaker, Children’s Literature and Folklore courses, Lexington, Kentucky
WOW (Working on our Work) Storytelling Weekend, Bethlehem, Indiana (thirty-four WOW weekends co-facilitated with Cynthia Changaris in our Scheherazade’s Legacy partnership)
Awards
2024 1st place, Jackie Torrence Tall Tale Liars Contest, National Association of Black Storytellers Conference, Buffalo, New York
2018 Kentucky Peer Advisory Network Award for assistance with technology, Kentucky Arts Council.
2018 2nd place, Jackie Torrence Tall Tale Contest, National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc., National Festival and Conference, Cary, North Carolina.
2017 Winner, Liar’s Contest, Cumberland Falls Storytelling Festival, Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky.
2017 Winner, Story Slam, National Storytelling Conference, Kansas City, Missouri.
2016 Distinguished National Service ORACLE Award, National Storytelling Network.
2014 Coleen Salley Award, The Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
2013 Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award for Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths and Outright Lies.
2013 Storytelling World Winner, Storytelling Collections category, for Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths, and Outright Lies.
2010 Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship, Berea College.
2010 Storytelling World Honor Award, Storytelling Recordings Category, for Alligators, Bees & Surprise, Oh, My! Folktales Revived!
2010 Winner, Story Slam, Kentucky Storytelling Conference, Kentucky Dam Village State Park, Kentucky.
2009 Circle of Excellence ORACLE Award, National Storytelling Network.
2007 Winner, Storytelling World Award, Storytelling Recordings Category for Sisters All. . . and One Troll CD.
2006 iParenting Media Award for Sisters All. . . and One Troll, CD.
2006 Parents’ Choice Gold Award for Sisters All... and One Troll, CD.
2005 Professional Assistance Award, Kentucky Arts Council.
2004 Artist Enrichment Grant, Kentucky Foundation for Women.
2003 Storytelling World Honor Award for “Stormwalker” from Some Dog and Other Kentucky Wonders recording.
Some Dog and Haunting Tales recordings selected for The Elementary School Library Collection.
1999 – 2000 Jesse Stuart Award, Kentucky School Media Association.
Education
National Storytelling Conference, yearly participation, 1987 – now (except 2018)
- Youth, Educators & Storytellers Pre-conference, 2014 — 17
- Producers and Organizers Pre-Conference, 2013 – 17
Kentucky Storytelling Conference, yearly participation, 2004 – now
Kentucky Arts Council, numerous Arts Education Workshops, 1989 -- 2021
Topics have included planning arts education residencies, accessibility issues, writing arts education grant applications, arts integration, and myriad aspects of school reform in Kentucky’s public schools.
National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. National Conference, 2018 - now (except 2023)
Arts Education Summit, Owensboro, Kentucky 2016
Arts Integration Institute, Tennessee Arts Commission, 2011
Northlands Storytelling Conference, 2011
Sharing the Fire Storytelling Conference, 2011
Non-profit Board Training, Arts Kentucky, 2006
Fundamentals of Effective Training, Blue Licks State Park, 2004
Storytelling Business Intensive with John McLaughlin, 2002
Artists as Educators Workshop, "Developing Participatory Workshops for Teachers" from The Kennedy Center, 2000.
Numerous half-day, full day, & weekend sessions led by a variety of storytellers including Jim May, Donald Davis, Chuck Larkin, John Basinger, Carol Birch, Doug Lipman, Loren Niemi, Pam McGrath, Bill Harley, Elizabeth Ellis and Nancy Donoval.
Storytelling Residency with Laura Simms, 1983, 1984, 1985, (worked as assistant 1986), 1988, 2007
Voice lessons with Gordon Van Ry, 1983 – 87
M.S. in Library Science, University of Kentucky, 1979
B.A. in Secondary Education, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 1974
Publications
(with Charles Wright), “Thinking Like a Scientist: How do Scientists Figure Things Out?” Science with Storytelling: Strategies for the K – 5 Classroom, McFarland & Company, Inc. 2017.
(with Charles Wright), “Insects and Plants: Finding the Food Connection,” Science and Storytelling: Strategies for the K – 5 Classroom, McFarland & Company, Inc. 2017.
“Among Colleagues,” Master Minds column, Storytelling Magazine, January/February/March 2016.
Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths, and Outright Lies. University Press of Kentucky, 2012.
“The Gingerbread Boy,” The August House Book of Scary Stories. August House, 2009.
“Story Scavenger Hunts,” Literacy Development in the Storytelling Classroom. Libraries Unlimited, 2009.
“Jump Rope Kingdom,” The Scenic Route: Stories from the Heartland. Indiana Historical Society Press, 2007.
"The Signature Story Meets the Eclectic Muse," Storytelling Magazine, March/April 2005.
Guest editor, Theme: “The Journey from Story to Storytelling,” Storytelling Magazine, November/December 2004.
"Susan Contemplates Murder," Telling Stories: Fiction by Kentucky Feminists. Western Kentucky University, 2001.
"Elizabeth on Racing," Storytelling Magazine, July/August, 2000.
“The Princess and the Dove,” Best-Loved Stories Told at the National Storytelling Festival. National Storytelling Association, 1991.
Recordings
Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths, and Outright Lies. Written by Mary Hamilton, published by University Press of Kentucky in 2012. Recorded by Mary Hamilton for the Kentucky Talking Book Library in 2013, and available nationally through the Kentucky Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. (9 hours, 22 minutes).
Alligators, Bees & Surprise! Oh My! Folktales Revived! (story favorites, previously available only on audiocassette) CD, 2009
Sisters All . . . and One Troll (tales of active heroines), CD, 2005
Haunting Tales: Live from Culbertson Mansion(spooky tales), CD includes two bonus studio-recorded tales, 2001
Some Dog and Other Kentucky Wonders, (Kentucky folklore initially released on audiocassette, plus two Hamilton family tales) CD, 2001
Sailing the Flying Ship: Stories and Thoughts on Navigating Life, audiocassette, 1998
Haunting Tales: Live from Culbertson Mansion(spooky tales), audiocassette, 1996
1000 Ideas and Then Some (world folktales), audiocassette, 1992
Some Dog and Other Kentucky Wonders(Kentucky tales), audiocassette, 1992
Stepping Stones: Stories for Children 4 - 10, audiocassette, 1992
The Winter Wife and Other Stories (North American tales), audiocassette, 1988
Recording Anthologies
“The Blue Light” Live from Big South Fork Haunting in the Hills Storytelling Festival, recorded in 2011; CD released in 2012.
“The Poor Man and the Rich Man’s Purse” Tales of Fools and Wise Folk: Live from the National Storytelling Festival, 1991.