I love to get students of all ages excited about stories. From middle school and high school students to adults, we are all empowered when we access our voices, develop narratives, and then share our stories. There are two main ways I work with students and teachers: Storytelling and Writing Storytelling: Inspired by storytelling radio shows and podcasts like Tales from the South, The Monty, and The Moth, my program includes working with students as they learn how stories are structured, how to isolate a story to share, how to develop and shape those stories, and then how to successfully tell that story in front of a live audience. I offer the opportunity to have a storytelling “show” in front of a group of students, the whole school, or even in the community. Students learn not only the value of their own voices and stories, but also how to listen to others, learn about each other, and support and celebrate their classmates. Writing: My focus is on using art, music, drawing, and other forms of expression along with writing to access creativity. Skills include learning how to use art to access deeper levels in writing; turning off and tuning out internal editors while creating; understanding the different phases of writing (creating/revision), the importance of each, and how to isolate each effectively; and sharing work with other classmates in a non-threatening environment to build confidence, develop oral communications, and to foster a sense of a writing community. Neither students nor teachers need any background in writing or art. Available to conduct teacher workshops.

An Arkansas native, Paula Martin (formerly Morell) is an award-winning writer, teacher, and editor who earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans. Her writings have appeared in numerous literary journals, anthologies, and magazines, and three times she has been featured as an Emerging Writer at the International Conference on the Short Story. Paula is the 2017 Inductee into the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame, and the recipient of the 2013 Arkansas Arts Council Governor’s Arts Award for Folklife. Paula created and produced the internationally-syndicated “Tales from the South” radio show, which aired for ten years on NPR, WRN, PRX, and Stitcher and garnered multiple regional, national, and international awards. She is now the Producer and Creative Director for the new storytelling show “Potluck and Poison Ivy.” Her second novel, Bone by Bone: A Love Story was released in August of 2017. She lives in Little Rock with her three children and multiple animals and is a barefoot trail runner and martial artist.