Keynote Speaker, Performer, and Workshop Leader
Elizabeth Ellis
From the Hans Christian Andersen Statue in New York’s Central Park to the Glistening Waters Festival in New Zealand, Elizabeth has captivated listeners everywhere she goes. She has taken storytelling to a variety of unexpected places, such as the amputee ward at Walter Reed Medical Center and into the work of Public Defenders and the United Way. She is a repeat favorite at the National Storytelling Festival and has been a Storyteller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center.
The first recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award from the Tejas Storytelling Association, Elizabeth has served three terms as its President. She has mentored and coached storytellers in Texas and around the nation for forty years. The National Storytelling Network honored her in 1997 with the Circle of Excellence Award which is “given to those recognized nationally by their peers to be master storytellers.”
Elizabeth is the author of From Plot to Narrative, an award-winning hand book for the creation of stronger and more engaging stories, and Every Day a Holiday, a collection of some of her popular personal stories. With Loren Niemi, she co-authored the pioneering book Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories.
In 2013 the National Storytelling Network honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. This is “presented to individuals in the storytelling community who have demonstrated meritorious service to the National Storytelling Network and to the storytelling community at large. The individuals who are awarded are those who have expanded public awareness of the art of storytelling by the virtue of their preservation of traditional art forms or the significant originality of their body of work.”
Elizabeth is a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. She lives in Dallas with her dog Woof.
Featured Performer and Workshop Leader
Vijai Nathan
Vijai Nathan is a comedian & storyteller who has performed across America, and was featured at festivals in Montreal, Singapore, South Africa, & the UK. She's a contributing writer for The Washington Post Magazine. Her storytelling credits include the Women’s Storytelling Festival and the Connecticut Storytelling Center.
Vijai is one of the leading Indian American female comedians making people laugh across America and internationally too. International comedy phenomenon Russell Peters calls her “One of the top two South Asian comics in the world to watch!”
She has performed in South Africa, England and Canada, and was featured at the Montreal International Comedy Festival (Just for Laughs) and the Smirnoff International Comedy Festival. Washington DC loves her too - she’s performed at the Smithsonian Museum, Kennedy Center, Constitution Hall, Library of Congress and won the award for Artistic Excellence from SpeakeasyDC.
She’s gained attention from critics for her solo-shows “Woman on Top: Tips from Mom, Dad & COSMO,” “Good Girls Don’t, But Indian Girls Do,” and "McGoddess.” Vijai grew up as a “foreigner” (or at least that's what everyone called her) in the suburbs of Washington D.C., where she was born. Her material comes from her experience as an Indian girl in America - raising two immigrant parents, dating boys with mothers who wished their sons could find a nice blonde girl named "Tiffany," and the universal quest for love, understanding and a good pair of undies.