Anne Jennison’s love of storytelling, which she inherited from her parents, has led Anne on a merry three-decade adventure as a professional storyteller. In 1994, Anne earned a BA in Storytelling from the University of New Hampshire and in 1996, Anne became possibly the first (only?) person to receive a Master’s Degree in “Bahá’í Storytelling” from Lesley University. Additionally, Anne holds an MA in American History from UNH – and has taught storytelling and history workshops & courses, both at the secondary and college levels.

Anne chooses to tell primarily the Native American lesson stories that reflect her Abenaki heritage and her husband’s Mohawk heritage. Anne explains it this way: “When I was growing up, my family lived in such far flung places as Kansas, the Philippines, Maryland, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Germany before finally settling in New Hampshire when my father retired from the US Air Force. My parents, both wonderful storytellers, taught me about my New England roots with their wonderful stories. What I learned from them is that stories from all traditions share the wonder of life and great gifts of humor and wisdom. But, for their gentle yet critically important lessons of life, Native American lesson stories are my favorite to tell. I first began telling Northeast Woodlands stories when my daughters were quite young, to teach them about their Abenaki and Mohawk heritage, and have since expanded my repertoire to include stories from all over Turtle Island”.

(Photo credit: Simon Brooks)