Dan yashinsky

Dan yashinsky: Dan Yashinsky is a well-known Canadian

It took only one summer of spooky stories to hook Dan Yashinsky. From the moment he heard his first tall tale, huddled around the evening campfire, he fell in love with the tradition of storytelling. Storytelling teaches you that your own voice matters, your own experience matters. He called it 1, Friday Nights of Storytelling and, true to the name, he showed up every, single Friday night just to tell stories.

George the Martyr on John Street. Soon after creating 1, Nights of Storytelling, Yashinksy founded the Toronto Festival of Storytelling — now in its 21st year — and co-founded the Storytellers School of Toronto. The Toronto Festival has become an annual favourite and will be in full swing when Yashinsky receives his Jane Jacobs Prize on February As his storytelling has evolved, the demand for his oeuvre has increased.

Yashinsky has been asked to share his wares at storytelling festivals in New York, Austria, Ireland and Israel. He attributes the growing interest to the very personal value found in the stories themselves. Someone else has been there, come back, and at least has a good story to show for it.