Bilingual storyteller Carolina Quiroga was born and raised in Cali, Colombia. In 2012, she began her hero’s journey moving from Colombia to Johnson City, Tennessee to attend East Tennessee State University in pursuit of a master’s degree in storytelling. She specializes in the folklore, mysteries, and histories of her Latinx descendants, spanning the Southwest to La Patagonia.

Lyn Ford is a fourth-generation Affrilachian storyteller, whose stories are rooted in her family’s multicultural Affrilachian storytelling tradition. (Kentucky poet Frank X. Walker coined the term “Affrilachian” to give a name to his unique experience as a Black Appalachian. It’s often used now to describe the cultural contributions of African-American artists, writers, and musicians in the Appalachian region of the U.S.) Ford is a teaching artist, author, and recipient of the National Storytelling Network Oracle Circle of Excellence Award.

Sponsored by the Estate of Frances Long