Donald Davis (storyteller)
Encyclopedia
Donald Davis is an American
storyteller
, author
and minister. Davis had a twenty year career as a minister before he became a professional storyteller. He has recorded over 25 storytelling albums and written several books based on those stories. His long career as a teller and his promotion of the cultural importance of storytelling through seminars and master classes has led to Davis being dubbed the "dean of storytelling".
Messenger, January 26, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
, North Carolina
, a small town in the mountainous region of Western North Carolina
. As a child, storytelling was a daily part of his family life. "My grandmother did lots of telling," Davis recalled to the Winston-Salem Journal
. "I remember hearing those stories, and I remember by the time I was in the second grade telling other kids in school stories I'd heard my grandmother tell."
He received a B.A.
from Davidson College
in 1966 and a Master of Divinity
degree from Duke University Divinity School
in 1969. Davis served as a Methodist minister in High Point, North Carolina
for over 20 years before retiring to become a professional storyteller.
s, school
s and libraries
across the country. Past storytelling festival appearances include the Village of Tales Ojai
Storytelling Festival in California
, the Hoosier
Storytelling Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana
and the Colonial Williamsburg
Storytelling Festival in Virginia
. He is also a regular performer at the National Storytelling Festival
in Jonesborough, Tennessee
.
Davis received the Circle of Excellence award in 1996 from the National Storytelling Network after being recognized by his peers as a master storyteller. He is the former Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Storytelling Association and has been a featured teller at the Smithsonian Institution
and the World’s Fair.
Davis has appeared on National Public Radio, CNN
and ABC
's Nightline. He also conducts seminars and master classes on storytelling throughout the United States.
Messenger, January 25, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
Davis is a strong advocate of storytelling; not just the profession, but also storytelling in everyday life. He feels that we connect with one another through the stories that we tell each other across the family dinner table or at a bar after work.
Messenger, January 6, 2007. Retrieved January 28, 2008. He believes that stories are really about identity, about who we are, and that technology may be all about moving information but it is in our stories that wisdom is passed down.
Middle-School
Young Reader's Award, YALSA's
Popular Paperback for Young Adults Award, Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award, Publishers Weekly
Listen Up Award, AudioFile
Earphones Award, Parents' Choice Award (Gold Title), and several Storytelling World Awards.
on the Outer Banks
of North Carolina. He had three sons with his first wife and one son with his current wife. He usually wears a bow tie.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
storyteller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and minister. Davis had a twenty year career as a minister before he became a professional storyteller. He has recorded over 25 storytelling albums and written several books based on those stories. His long career as a teller and his promotion of the cultural importance of storytelling through seminars and master classes has led to Davis being dubbed the "dean of storytelling".
Troy, Alabama
Troy is a city in Pike County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,003. Troy experienced a growth spurt of over 4,000+ people since 2000. The city is the county seat of Pike County....
Messenger, January 26, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
Background
Donald Davis was born in WaynesvilleWaynesville, North Carolina
Waynesville is a town in and the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest town in Haywood County and the largest in Western North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about or 50 km southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, a small town in the mountainous region of Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains, thus it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It is sometimes included with upstate South Carolina as the "Western Carolinas", which is also counted as a single media market...
. As a child, storytelling was a daily part of his family life. "My grandmother did lots of telling," Davis recalled to the Winston-Salem Journal
Winston-Salem Journal
The Winston-Salem Journal is a daily newspaper primarily serving the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and its county, Forsyth County, North Carolina. It also features coverage of Northwestern North Carolina and circulates as far west as Tennessee and north to Virginia.The paper is owned by...
. "I remember hearing those stories, and I remember by the time I was in the second grade telling other kids in school stories I'd heard my grandmother tell."
He received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Davidson College
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
in 1966 and a Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
degree from Duke University Divinity School
Duke Divinity School
The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina is one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 full time and 18 part time faculty and over 500 full time students. The current dean of The Divinity School is Richard B. Hays, who replaced...
in 1969. Davis served as a Methodist minister in High Point, North Carolina
High Point, North Carolina
High Point is a city located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. As of 2010 the city had a total population of 104,371, according to the US Census Bureau. High Point is currently the eighth-largest municipality in North Carolina....
for over 20 years before retiring to become a professional storyteller.
Storytelling
Davis currently performs at storytelling festivalStorytelling festival
A storytelling festival is often an annual event that features local, regional and/or nationally known oral storytellers. Each storyteller will have a scheduled amount of time to share a story with an audience...
s, school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s and libraries
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
across the country. Past storytelling festival appearances include the Village of Tales Ojai
Ojai, California
Ojai is a city in Ventura County, California, USA. It is situated in the Ojai Valley , surrounded by hills and mountains. The population was 7,461 at the 2010 census, down from 7,862 at the 2000 census.-History:Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley...
Storytelling Festival in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the Hoosier
Hoosier
Hoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana. Although residents of most U.S. states typically adopt a derivative of the state name, e.g., "Indianan" or "Indianian", natives of Indiana rarely use these. Indiana adopted the nickname "Hoosier State" more than 150...
Storytelling Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
and the Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
Storytelling Festival in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. He is also a regular performer at the National Storytelling Festival
National Storytelling Festival
The National Storytelling Festival is held the first full weekend of October in Jonesborough, Tennessee at the International Storytelling Center. The National Storytelling Festival was founded by Jimmy Neil Smith, a high school journalism teacher in 1973...
in Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 4,168 at the 2000 census...
.
Davis received the Circle of Excellence award in 1996 from the National Storytelling Network after being recognized by his peers as a master storyteller. He is the former Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Storytelling Association and has been a featured teller at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and the World’s Fair.
Davis has appeared on National Public Radio, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Nightline. He also conducts seminars and master classes on storytelling throughout the United States.
Troy, Alabama
Troy is a city in Pike County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,003. Troy experienced a growth spurt of over 4,000+ people since 2000. The city is the county seat of Pike County....
Messenger, January 25, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
Davis is a strong advocate of storytelling; not just the profession, but also storytelling in everyday life. He feels that we connect with one another through the stories that we tell each other across the family dinner table or at a bar after work.
Troy, Alabama
Troy is a city in Pike County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,003. Troy experienced a growth spurt of over 4,000+ people since 2000. The city is the county seat of Pike County....
Messenger, January 6, 2007. Retrieved January 28, 2008. He believes that stories are really about identity, about who we are, and that technology may be all about moving information but it is in our stories that wisdom is passed down.
Albums and books
Davis has recorded more than two dozen storytelling albums during approximately two decades. He considers himself to be primarily a storyteller, but Davis is also an author. While the majority of his books are based on his recorded stories, he has also written a novel, a memoir and two educational books about storytelling and language.Awards
His books and albums have won numerous awards including the South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
Middle-School
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
Young Reader's Award, YALSA's
Young Adult Library Services Association
The Young Adult Library Services Association , established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. The mission of YALSA is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to...
Popular Paperback for Young Adults Award, Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award, Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
Listen Up Award, AudioFile
AudioFile (magazine)
-Launch:The publication was launched in 1992 as a twelve-page black & white newsletter with about 50 critical reviews of audiobooks, focused on new releases. In 1997, it switched to a 36-page colour magazine format with about 60 reviews per issue and interviews with authors, readers, and...
Earphones Award, Parents' Choice Award (Gold Title), and several Storytelling World Awards.
Personal
Davis currently lives on Ocracoke IslandOcracoke, North Carolina
Ocracoke is a census-designated place and unincorporated town located at the southern end of Ocracoke Island, located entirely within Hyde County, North Carolina. The population was 769 as of the 2000 census...
on the Outer Banks
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
of North Carolina. He had three sons with his first wife and one son with his current wife. He usually wears a bow tie.
See also
- StorytellingStorytellingStorytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
- Storytelling festivalStorytelling festivalA storytelling festival is often an annual event that features local, regional and/or nationally known oral storytellers. Each storyteller will have a scheduled amount of time to share a story with an audience...