Liz Z Pardue is a storyteller, writer, director, and folklorist from North Carolina who has a penchant for exploring history’s darkest corners. The founder of Sisterhood of Spirits, LLC, Liz operates ghost tours and spooky historical theatrical productions from her home in Fuquay-Varina, the most haunted small town in the South. In 2024, she performed as a New Voice at the NC Storytelling Festival and published her first book, Fuquay-Varina Ghosts, Legends, & Lore: Vol. 1.  Find more of her appearances, publications, and productions on LizZPardue.com. 

Rebecca Newton calls herself a “North Carolina-based old hippie chick musician turned author who’s done everything but jump out of an airplane (but there’s still time).”

Her 7-piece swing/early jazz/R&B band, “Rebecca & The High Tones,” was a NC institution for 30 years. Rebecca has been commissioned by National Public Radio to write and produce feature music for “All Things Considered,” has composed music for several theatrical productions, and co-produced a documentary with Clyde Edgerton. Her latest solo album is “Riding Ponies to the Moon“, which she refers to as a “Music Storybook.” Ponies points to various chapters in her southern novel called “A Simple but Kind Gesture on What Was Otherwise an Ordinary Day.” The novel is Newton’s first prose project.

Connie B. Steadman was part of legendary trio, The Badgett Sisters, an American folk and gospel group from Yanceyville, NC, and recipients of a 1990 North Carolina Heritage Award, who began singing together in 1933 and consisted of sisters Celester, Connie, and Cleonia Badgett. Under their father's tutelage, beginning at ages 4-6, the Badgett Sisters learned to sing spirituals, hymns, and gospel songs in the jubilee style, a form popular in the 1930s and 1940s with unaccompanied close harmony learned from their father, Cortelyou Odell Badgett (1905-1978). The Badgett Sisters traveled around the world and performed at Carnegie Hall. As of 2019, “Connie B.” performs as an acappella musician and storyteller solo artist throughout North Carolina.

Cedric Tillman received a BA in English from UNC Charlotte and graduated from American University's Creative Writing MFA program. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies including RHINO, The Manhattanville Review, Solstice Literary Magazine, The Florida Review, and Kakalak. In 2017, his poem "the flag" received Special Mention recognition for the Pushcart Foundation's Pushcart Prize.

His debut collection, entitled LILIES IN THE VALLEY, was published by Willow Books in 2013. After receiving semifinalist and finalist recognition for the University of Akron, Cleveland State University, and Press 53 poetry prizes among others, IN MY FEELINS was published by WordTech Poetry in 2020. Cedric lives in Charlotte.

Donna Washington is an award-winning internationally known master storyteller, artist-educator, and author who has been providing workshops and performing for audiences of all ages for over thirty-six years. She is renowned for her storytelling for both children & adults from poignant & funny fables about the human condition to racy relationships stories to spine-tingling tales of terror. She has been featured at numerous festivals, schools, libraries, theaters and other venues around the world including Canada, Peru, Ireland Argentina & Hong Kong. During the pandemic, she presented over two hundred shows & workshops virtually online. In 2020, she co-founded the non-profit organization Artists Standing Strong Together with Master Storyteller Sheila Arnold for which they won a 2021 Oracle Award. In 2022 she received the Coleen Salley Storytelling Award.

Donna's eleven storytelling CDs have garnered thirty national awards. She has authored numerous articles about storytelling and education including her very popular blog Language, Literacy & Storytelling. She is also the author of six children’s books: Li’l Rabbit’s Kwanzaa, A Pride of African Tales, The Story of Kwanzaa, A Big Spooky House, award winning Boo Stew, and her latest book, Prak Fills The House. She travels all over the world performing and presenting workshops. She lives with her husband and cat in Durham, NC.

Lona Bartlett is a performance artist, storyteller, puppeteer and educator from Charlotte. Degrees in education and a small town upbringing in the Catskill Mountains open a gateway to a long list of presentations. No matter the genre, whether folktales, fairytales, puppets, or personal stories, Lona brings excitement and insight to stage and classroom. She designs and creates many of her puppets and sometimes runs a “puppet hospital.”

“Lona Bartlett engages audiences both large and small with a wide range of stories that entertain and delight. She is a storyteller who moves easily between adult and youth audiences ,evoking in both the many emotions of the human drama—laughter, awe, and wonder.”

Andy Russell grew up in the western Piedmont section of North Carolina, and the region and its people figure prominently in his stories and songs! His singing and storytelling style is authentic, funny, and poignant, and appeals to wide audiences. Andy has appeared at the 2024 Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival, “A Taste of Storytelling” in LaGrange, GA and the Florida Storytelling Festival, and was selected as a “New Voice” teller for the 2023 Stone Soup Storytelling Festival.

In June 2024, Andywon the Open Mike Story Slam competition for Six Feet Apart Productions. Andy lives in Ocala, Florida with two dogs and a three-legged cat.

Chris Wise considers himself a "story-finder" as much as a storyteller. He finds stories—and songs — hidden within his own and others' lives. And, from time to time, he just makes stuff up. He settled in Raleigh 30 years ago after a career as a soldier. You’ll enjoy how he “makes little effort to separate song, story, truth, meditations on the meaning of truth, and outright lies. “