West Texas A&M University welcomes two-time Grammy award-winning storyteller Bill Harley on Friday, May 8, for the 2015 storytelling festival.

The festival is completely student produced by the graduate seminar, the Art of Storytelling. Each spring semester, the Art of Storytelling graduate class prepares a series of stories ranging from ghost stories to myths to tall tales. This year’s Art of Storytelling class consists of five graduate students. The theme of the festival is Lost and Found, which is also the name of a children’s book Harley wrote.

Christa Montoya, graduate student and storyteller, said the storytelling class designed the program from top to bottom.

“Producing the festival is part of our grade for the Art of Storytelling class. This has been everything from the poster design to reserving hotels and restaurants for our guest speaker to the set design. It has been a great experience to plan the event from the beginning,” Montoya said. “Being able to have a hand in the planning has made it even more special to us and has brought us closer as a class. I’m looking forward to meeting Bill Harley.”

The storytelling festival will not only consist of just stories, but it will also have a workshop component for the community to participate in. Harley will lead the workshop. Harley is an author, songwriter and storyteller who has made a name for himself as a performer since the 1970s.

Jessie Story, graduate student and festival performer, said she is excited to give the audience an opportunity to get involved in the festivities.

“This is also a great chance to interact with my classmates after their performances. We are hoping to see a lot of other Buffs there,” Story said. “Additionally, an afternoon workshop with Bill will take place and is open to all. Bill will be sharing his experiences and advice in storytelling. This is a great chance for people to get mentored by a two-time Grammy award-winning storyteller.”

Dr. Trudy Hanson, Department of Communication Chair, teaches the Art of Storytelling graduate seminar. Hanson said the mission statement of the class changes from year to year, but the goal remains the same.

“The graduate students are members of the Panhandle Storytelling Guild, and the goal of the Panhandle Storytelling Guild is to keep alive the art of storytelling and to share it with the community and build awareness of the art of storytelling,” Hanson said. “In this one, they used the idea of lost and found to help us find our stories and enliven our imaginations in doing so.”

The Lost and Found storytelling festival will take place in the Branding Iron Theater in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex at WT. The storytelling performances will be at 10 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 7 p.m., and the afternoon workshop will take place in room 176.

Admission to the festival is free, and tickets can be reserved by emailing Dr. Hanson at [email protected] or by calling 806-651-2800.