Story by Story: Michael McCarty

Join PSPL for Story by Story, a monthly storytelling series featuring diverse tellers from around the country. Enjoy one of the oldest performing arts while hearing about a variety of cultures and beliefs. Performances run 45-60 minutes, followed by an up-to 30 minute discussion opportunity. Story by Story is a storytelling series for adults, but mature teens are also welcome. An American Sign Language interpreter will be provided for all events.

Michael McCarty’s mother always read to him and told him stories. As a high school student in the 1960s, he discovered the amazing stories of Black history and culture that weren’t taught in schools, so he began telling stories. In 1992, McCarty discovered the world of professional storytelling, and he has been telling stories and teaching storytelling around the country and the world ever since! Since 2014, he has worked in California prisons as part of the Arts in Corrections program, teaching inmates how to find, develop, and tell their own stories.

McCarty has told “goo gobs” of stories in his over thirty years as a professional storyteller, specializing in stories of African and African-American history and culture. Many of those stories have been especially important to him, and he will share those stories with us!