STORYTELLER SPOTLIGHT

Neshama Franklin has been part of our SFAP family as a teller since our Dec 2021 Open Mic and as an audience member before that. To hear Neshama tell is a joy. Her feisty, fierce nature, her love of language and a life filled with adventures gives her a vast repertoire of escapades to expound on.

She is a lover of language and a self proclaimed autodidact. We find it a good idea to have a dictionary handy when listening to her tell, unless you know the meaning of such words as lachrymose and labanotation. We didn’t.

Neshama with her StellarSlam Trophy

She was the winner of our June 2022 Open Mic StorySlam on the theme “School’s Out,” our 2023 StellarSlam “Leap of Faith”, and our May 2024 Open Mic “The Motherlode.” Here is her winning story from the show:

Neshama’s answer to the question, “How did you come to storytelling?”

It started in 1989. I didn’t realize I was a storyteller until I was recruited to be a storytelling witch for a Halloween program at the library where I’d gotten the job of my dreams. “What should I tell,” I asked. They gave me a positively bloodcurdling tale. “I’m supposed to tell this to kids?” “They’ll love it,” they reassured me. I read the story to myself a few times and it took hold and just like that I could tell it. It was so different from all those years learning lines as an actor and hanging out for endless rehearsals. So I plundered books of folktales, developed a considerable repertoire, and told all over the place: libraries, camps, gatherings and even a few festivals.

Then by chance I attended a show where the teller had a flyer that announced “your story must be told’ and offered workshops. People had been saying they liked the folktales but wanted to hear more about my life and that’s where I developed the personal stories I’ve been telling ever since. I joined local swap groups and moved on to the Moth where I became a regular and even won a grand slam or two. When Covid hit, there went those opportunities, but guess what? Six Feet Apart came into being and I’ve been with them ever since, greatly enjoying the opportunity to tell on a regular basis. Though it’s not like the reciprocal energy of live telling, I’ve discovered Zoom works just fine. I’ve become part of a cadre of regulars, as well as the brave souls who join us. I’m positively chuffed (that’s for Claire—so British) to be able to introduce you to their fine work.

Neshama volunteering at the Bay Area Storytelling Festival

We are so happy to have Neshama as part of our SFAP village.

To find out more about Neshama and watch more of her wonderful stories, subscribe to her YouTube channel HERE. Or connect with her on Facebook HERE.