Signature Series: Stories, Inside and Out (in-person)

Dovie Thomason has spent a lifetime gathering and weaving tales with stories from her own life into a passionate and compelling contemporary vision. Her love of stories began early: “I fell in love with stories when I was just a girl, ”Dovie explained to the BBC. “I was surrounded by them. I was really fortunate because my father would tell stories… And my grandmother would tell me these old-time stories about animals and heroes and women of great power. And in each story, there was usually a small lesson—sometimes a large lesson. And how large the lessons were in those stories I’ve only learned as I’ve grown older.” Come hear Dovie as she shares her thoughts on contemporary life through her stories.

Dovie Thomason is an Indigenous storyteller and considers herself a river, fed by many streams: Lakota, Plains Apache, and Scot Traveller ancestry, urban Chicago, rural Texas and international travels, the Internet and Indigenous elders, family teachings, kitchen table wisdom, and university classrooms — and draws on those contrasts and cultures in her work. Conveying these stories respectfully and responsibly is Thomason’s calling and has made her one of the most respected and admired storytellers of her generation. When she adds personal stories and untold histories, the result is a contemporary narrative of Indigenous history and identity in North America told provocatively with elegance, wit, and passion. She has been featured at countless prominent global events, including the Kennedy Center, National Museum of the American Indian, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and festivals from Tennessee to Estonia, New Zealand to New Mexico. She is a recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence award and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers’ Traditional Storyteller Award.