Ohio University Lancaster Faculty Member Receives National Award

Dr. Kevin Cordi, assistant professor of instruction at Ohio University Lancaster, earned a Storytelling Honor Award for his edited collection entitled Tomorrow’s Storytellers Today: A New Generation of Storytellers.

The Storytelling World Awards is a widely recognized program from the National Storytelling Network.

“I am honored not only to receive this coveted award, but to work and help share the stories of these amazing forerunners of storytelling,” Cordi stated.   “When I was telling and learning about telling, it was hard to find someone to guide me, I hope this book guides others as they journey with story.”

Cordi began his journey as a storyteller at nineteen and was one of the youngest touring storytellers in the country at the time.

Four years ago Cordi was approached by younger practitioners who use storytelling at the National Storytelling Conference and asked to help them create a book that speaks with their voice.  Cordi deliberately reached out to story practitioners who work in schools, universities, even prisons.  He collected and edited an impressive collection of essays featured the work of these story practitioners.

In addition to editing the work, he is building community with the tellers and learning from them.  In the collection he speaks to his journey of discovering storytelling and how working with others assisted him to know about the many uses of storytelling. This is the primary reason he collected and contributed to the work published by Parkhurst Brothers in December 2021.

Dr. Kevin Cordi serves as an Assistant Professor at Ohio University Lancaster where he teaches literacy, including a class in storytelling and education.