History is known to carry stories. They carry voices of our ancestors, the languages we speak, and the traditions we still are learning about. And when it comes to international storytelling competitions, stories in our culture shine the brightest.
Why Cultural Stories Shine in International Competitions
In today’s world we fantasize more about superheroes and fantasy sagas, but cultural storytelling has a special power, it feels real, it feels close to our hearts. These stories are an introduction to the society about the new beliefs, perspectives, and worlds. In global narrative competitions for K-12 students, judges often go for originality, authenticity, and depth.
This way young writers can easily find their or discover their identity. Whether it’s a festival, a folktale, or a family ritual that’s been passed down to your family this means that your story already has a meaning.
Plus, the benefits of storytelling competitions for teens must go beyond awards, you gain confidence, public speaking skills, and a stronger voice.
Researching your Heritage: Family Interviews and Resources.
You don’t need to know from where the tradition started, or who witnessed it just to write about it. First, start with simple conversations with your parents or grandparents about the stories they have heard growing up from their parents or grandparents. These small talks can boost so many ideas for your storytelling competition.
Also, you can try:
1. Reading books related to cultural anthologies or children’s folk tales
2. You can visit libraries or museums for better understanding about your heritage
3. Talking to elders or teachers in your community who has a good command on these topics
But if you are working with a culture, you are less familiar or it isn’t yours then you must be extra careful with the facts and expressing your thoughts regarding it.
Adapting Traditional Tales for Modern Audiences
Let’s imagine you found an old tale from your culture, so how do you turn it into something fresh?
Below are some storytelling techniques for middle schoolers and young writers:
1. Modern Setting: You might think why do we need to put a traditional tale to a modern setting. Let me break it down for you, putting it into a modern setting would make it more relatable to today’s readers and listeners. If you’re a participant of K-12 competition, then the judges appreciate when young writers connect to ancient stories to present day situations. It shows creativity in adapting traditions, helps younger audiences connect with old traditions, and makes the story feel fresh without losing its meaning.
2. Character Twist: Changing the character to something very unexpected, adds surprise and depth to your story. Judges like when the you show originality and authenticity together, and twisting the characters, is a great way to show that. It reflects that the contestant has a deeper thinking, it also keeps the audience curious, and makes your version stand out from other contestants’ stories.
3. Your Voice: Why is writing it in your style important? When you copy every word from the original story, it may look like it’s not you who has written it and would sound too formal. Adding your little twists and turns will make the story become totally yours. This helps the judges understand your personality through your writing. If you write it down in your tone, the story gets more interesting and the audience can also understand your viewpoints.
Past Winners’ Cultural Stories
Here are some real life examples of students who succeeded in student storytelling contests by connecting with their culture.
Anasi Tales from Ghana
A young student from West Africa, reimagined an Anasi the Spider Tale. But instead of a jungle, she changed Anasi into a modern school where he cleverly dealt with bullies. She could easily tell this folklore in a very relatable manner and hearing it as an audience felt fresh.
Indigenous Australian Dreamtime Stories
A teen wrote about her personal experience of visiting her grandmother’s hometown. She beautifully wrote from the perspective of a modern aboriginal girl. The story was a perfect blend of old Dreamtime Stories with her personal experience. This is a true example of how identity is shaped overtime.
Join Our Cultural Storytelling Workshop
Do you also want to know how to enter an international storytelling contest? If you need any help in shaping your idea, join our upcoming Cultural Storytelling Workshop designed for students of all ages.
We will explore how to adapt folktales into stories for competitions, what are the criteria judges generally look for, if you present with confidence, and most importantly, tips for virtual storytelling competitions.
This is your chance to explore your creativity.