Storytelling Initiative

Later this semester, we will be hosting BYU LawStories on the MainStage, a storytelling event open to students from all law schools. Participants are asked to submit a nonfiction narrative of 1000-1500 words melding law, personal experience, and storytelling. A panel of judges will select ten stories from among the submissions. Storytellers from other law schools will be awarded an expense-paid trip to visit us here in Utah to participate in the MainStage events.

Each of the storytellers will present their stories in a public event to be held at the law school. Before their presentations, they will receive a half-day seminar taught by Sam Payne, host of The Apple Seed, a national radio show on storytelling. At the conclusion of the seminar, the participants will record their stories for broadcast at the BYU Radio studios. After the campus-based events conclude, the participating storytellers will travel to Moab to visit one of Utah’s iconic national parks.

Attached is a digital invitation that I encourage you to share with your students. Storytelling training materials, including those contributed by The Leadership Story Lab, are available through the BYU LawStories website. Recordings of some of last year’s MainStage storytellers can be found using the same link.

We are grateful for the support of our partners, The Leadership Story Law, BYU Radio, and the Timpanogos Storytelling Institute.

I am available to any of you who would like to learn more about what we are doing with LawStories.

Kind regards,
D. Gordon Smith