Diane Ferlatte

Diane Ferlatte is an award-winning African American storyteller from Oakland, California. Her repertoire includes fables, folktales, legends, ghost tales, historical tales, and contemporary and personal stories. Ferlatte sees herself as a preserver of the oral tradition, folk history, culture, and values. She received The National Storytelling Network's Oracle 2002 Circle of Excellence Award and The National Association of Black Storytellers Zora Neale Hurston Award.

Her storytelling CD Wickety Whack—Brer Rabbit is Back was a 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Children's Spoken Word. The album features tales told by slaves in the American South, brought to rousing and joyful life with music and song. Ferlatte’s CD received the 2008 Storytelling World Winner Award, the American Library Association's 2007 Notable Children's Recording Award, the National Parenting Publications Gold Award, the Parents' Choice 2007 Gold Award, and the iParenting Media Award. Ferlatte’s other recordings including Penny for Your Thoughts, Knick Knack Paddy Whack, Aesop: Alive and Well, and Yes M'am, Respect for the Elders.

Ferlatte has wowed audiences across the globe from Graz, Austria, to Auckland, New Zealand. She has toured and performed internationally, including in Holland, France, Bermuda, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. She has visited almost every state in the U.S., including Hawaii and Alaska, to perform at major festivals, theaters, conferences, universities, schools, libraries, senior centers, detention facilities, and churches. Providing workshops for other tellers, ministers, and teachers, as well as serving as keynote speaker/storyteller at professional conferences and conventions, has become a rewarding part of her work. Ferlatte continues to focus on schools and libraries as much as possible, because she believes this is where the tradition of storytelling is to be nurtured, and the lessons of the stories most need to be heard. She was honored to be featured in Language of Literature, McDougal Littell's textbook series for middle school.

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6/29/09: Mitchell G. Capel / Diane Ferlatte

African American storytellers Mitchell G. Capel—known as “Gran’daddy Junebug”—and Diane Ferlatte charm audiences with their engaging tales.

Mitchell G. Capel / Diane Ferlatte

African American storytellers Mitchell G. Capel—known as “Gran’daddy Junebug”—and Diane Ferlatte charm audiences with their engaging tales.

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Diane Ferlatte

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