This year the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival is expanding dramatically, and for the first time the festival will include a whole area in the TCC Plaza, outside the Tucson Music Hall, dedicated to storytelling and the narrative traditions of Tucson’s living cultures.  There will be a stage set up like a Southwestern living room for a wide range of performances.  Adjacent to this area festival attendees can participate in a version of the sobremesa tradition by gathering around tables to share stories of their own on particular themes. (Sobremesa, according to Google Translate, is after dinner table-talk.)

Come out to hear the tales:

Tellers include Big Jim Griffith (founder of the festival and Tucson legend), Jordan Hill (Jewish stories and Tucson ghost lore), Sheila Patteson (Irish tales), Marc Severson (stories of life in Tucson), Anne Lee (Slavic stories), Jean Baxter (stories from Tucson’s early days), Tucson teens from VOICES and Tucson Hebrew Academy (tales of living young in Tucson), and youth from the Singing Bird Sangha (Buddhist stories).

Come out to tell tales of your own:

Facilitators of the sobremesas include Odyssey Storytelling, the UA Creative Writing Club, Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, and more.  Topics range from food, love, injuries, and holidays to immigration, religious experiences, and encounters with Tucson ghosts and wildlife (of all kinds).

Come out and be a part of an exciting and profound new way for Tucson to truly meet itself!  The Festival will be in downtown Tucson this coming Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thanks to Jordan Hill for this information.

We are just starting the too-much-to-do season.  Here are some upcoming events to add to your calendar.

Finding Voice Project is presenting a retrospective exhibition (2006-2009) of photography, writing and digital stories produced by international students at Tucson’s Catalina Magnet High School. Through their images, words and digital stories they will take you on a very personal journey from the countries they emigrated from - Afghanistan, Bhutan, Ghana, India, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Mexico, Nepal, Marshall Islands, Russia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Vietnam - to a Tucson you have likely never seen before.

Finding Voice is a literacy and visual arts program in Tucson dedicated to helping refugee and immigrant youth in English Language Development (ELD) classes at Catalina Magnet High School develop their literacy skills by researching, photographing, writing, and speaking out about critical social issues in their lives.

The show will be at the Union Gallery, 3rd Floor of Student Union, University of Arizona from October 16 – November 13, Monday – Friday from noon to 6 p.m.  The opening reception is on Friday, October 16 from 5 to 7 p.m. with an artist talk starting at 6.  Call 520-621-6142 for more info.

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A party to raise funds for the 2010 Tucson Poetry Festival takes place on Friday, October 16 from 6 to 10 p.m. at 2020 E. 4th Street.

You can enjoy beer, wine, food, poetry and good company while supporting the efforts of the 2010 festival. There will be a silent auction/raffle including works by Sherwin Bitsui, G. Foushee, and Gavin Troy. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased through your poetry festival friend, or at Antigone Books, 411 N. 4th Ave.

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A benefit for Chax Press and Voices, Inc will feature a book launch and celebration with authors Linh Dinh, Stephanie Balzer and Jonathan Rothschild on Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m. at the Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University.  Food and drink will be available.  Tickets are $10.  Call 620-1626 for more info.

Chax Press is a Tucson nonprofit literary and book arts organization with programs in literary publishing, fine art bookmaking, education and exhibitions.

VOICES is a community-based nonprofit organization that provides youth with safe space, positive relationship and skills training to document real-life stories.  Their mission is to”mentor low-income youth to tell their personal, family, neighborhood, tribal, and community stories so they can strengthen their cognitive, artistic, emotional, leadership, and higher education skills. Youth who are creative, resilient, educated and active citizens are youth who benefit themselves, their families and our community now and in the future.”

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POG- Poetry in Action -  is a “collective of poets, literary critics and practitioners of other art forms who have joined together in Tucson to offer public programming and other related events, which will promote active appreciation of and engagement with avant-garde artistic work in a variety of media, especially poetry and multi-disciplinary art.”

Some of their upcoming events include:

November 13, 2009, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., Aural Pleasure Extravaganza Benefit for POG, music, poetry, dancing at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St.

November 21, 2009, 7 p.m., Myung Mi Kim and Barbara Henning, The Drawing Studio, 33 S. Sixth Ave.

December 12, 2009, 7 p.m., Tony Luebbermann and Stephanie Balzer – The Drawing Studio, 33 S. Sixth Ave.

There are lots of opportunities for kids to tell their stories in Tucson.  Here are a few:

This is the 4^th year that Pima County Public Library presents the award-winning That’s My Take film project, where teens learn from professional filmmakers and work with mentors to write, direct and produce two-minute long cinematic adaptations of famous works of fiction.  Pan Left gave workshops to the participants and librarians in filmmaking for this project. This summer fifty teens were in the program and you can see eleven of the trailers and a short documentary about the project at The Loft on Saturday, September 12 at 10 a.m.

VOICES is now recruiting youth ages 14 to 21 to participate in their fall documentary arts programs. Youth can learn how to take photographs, write stories, and be on the radio.  For more information check out the VOICES website, or call 520-622-7458.

Kore Press is looking for young women or female-identified or trans individuals, ages 14-19 for the Grrls Literary Activism Workshop to be held Sept 9 – Dec 16. To apply now call 327-2127 or email lisa@korepress.org.

Girls Making Media teaches teenage women digital media skills as they produce media segments about issues affecting women and girls in their community. The skills learned are used by program participants to educate, inform and influence public opinion about issues they have identified as affecting women and that call for action for social change.  Beginners sessions start on October 10.  This project is a collaboration between the WomanKraft Digital Arts Studio, and the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission. For details about how you can participate, contact Quynn Elizabeth, earthtribetv@yahoo.com, 520-954-2004.

Pima Community College is offering Words Play: Creative Writing, a class taught by Elena Acoba for 8- to 12 year-olds, inspiring young wordsmiths to write creatively. Exercises will guide writing about real people and places and imaginary worlds. At the end of the course each child will have written at least five pieces of work.  The class takes place Saturdays, October 3-24 from 9 to 11 a.m. You can register at Pima for Kids program at Pima Community College.

“Stories That Soar! is a literacy and performing arts program which merges the talents of professional adult performers and children’s original stories to create innovative and insightful theatre productions for schools and community events.” Our programs appeal to a wide range of children, regardless of race, culture, gender, ability and socio-economic status. We believe everyone has wonderful stories to tell; we are here to help those stories be heard in the most creative ways possible.” To find out more visit their website.