Accepting Submissions: January 14th - April 17th
Showcase: May 10 | 2:00PM - 3:00PM
Crooked Tree Arts Center

Crooked Tree Arts Center’s Young Writers' Exposition offers two special Stories Told writing awards for students ages 12-18 (one for middle school and one for high school). Award recipients will be recognized at the Youth Art Show Awards Night in April. They will have the opportunity to “guest direct” their work with Little Traverse Civic Theater actors during rehearsal at Great Lakes Center for the Arts and have their work performed during the SPRighT Showcase in May.

Thursday, March 13 | 1:00PM - 2:00PM

The Harbor Springs Festival of the Book hosts a virtual event featuring award-winning Middle-Grade author Jasmine Warga. Jasmine will discuss her Newbery Honor book, Other Words for Home. Written in free verse, this is a lyrical, life-affirming story about losing and finding home and, most importantly, finding yourself.

Register

Monday, March 17 | 7:00PM
Great Lakes Center for the Arts

The Dorothy Gerber Youth Orchestra performs Music as Language: Stories Told Through Self-Expression at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts. Narration connects the audience to the music and guides listening. The concert includes works from symphonic movements and samples of music that span time and genres.

Tuesday, March 18 | 4:00PM
Petoskey District Library

The Petoskey District Library welcomes colorist and comic artist Aaron Polk. Aaron has worked on beloved graphic novels such as Dogman and Wings of Fire. Join us for this fun mini-comics workshop to learn about short storytelling and how to make your own comics.

March - April
Crooked Tree Arts Center

Crooked Tree Arts Center offers guided school tours of the 2025 Guild Members Exhibition featuring work by Artist Guild members and the Youth Art Show featuring artwork created by students in the Char-Em ISD and homeschool students in Charlevoix and Emmet Counties. Both Gilbert and Bonfield Galleries will be filled, floor to ceiling, with artworks in all media. Tours and hands-on activities highlight narrative themes and visual storytelling in the expression of perspective or voice.

Thursday, March 20 | 4:00PM
Crooked Tree Arts Center

The Petoskey District Library and Crooked Tree Arts Center collaborate on a special Stories Told offering for youth, grades 5 to 8, featuring an interactive tour of the Youth Art Show followed by an “Exquisite Corpse” collaborative writing project at the Library.

Exquisite corpse (from the original French term cadavre exquis, literally exquisite cadaver) is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g., "The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun." as in "The green duck sweetly sang the dreadful dirge.") or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.

Saturday, April 5 & Saturday, April 19 | 10:00AM - 1:00PM
Crooked Tree Arts Center

Crooked Tree Arts Center’s free, drop-in Open Studio program, offered every Saturday morning, is devoting two Open Studio days to the art of visual storytelling as part of Stories Told. Activities are designed to engage youth and adults of all ages. No experience necessary!

Friday, April 11 | 10:00AM & 12:30PM - SOLD OUT
Great Lakes Center for the Arts

Next Gen is proud to present the Kennedy Center’s production of Stories Told title, Jason Reynolds’ Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks. Two school-day matinee performances are open to educators and students from districts and homeschools across Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, and Otsego counties. This show weaves tales that collectively speak to all of us about the power of "finding our voices."

Wednesday, April 17 | 7:00PM - 8:30PM
Crooked Tree Arts Center

Crooked Tree Arts Center is excited to host its annual Youth Art Show Awards Night (Including Visual Art, Young Writers, and Ballet Awards). This year, the event includes Stories Told awards for one middle school and one high school student. Winning writers will have their work read at the SPRighT Showcase in May.

March - April | Submissions Due: April 14
Great Lakes Center for the Arts

Student Playwright Reader’s Theater (SPRighT) is a new and exciting Next Gen opportunity for high school students who love theater, writing, and directing. All high school students from Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, and Otsego counties are invited to write an original, 3-6 minute play addressing the theme "Finding Your Voice."

Call for Submissions

Saturday, May 10 | 2:00PM - 3:00PM
Crooked Tree Arts Center

The SPRighT Showcase presents the winning work of regional high school playwrights and the winners of the 2025 Young Writers Exposition awards from Crooked Tree Arts Center. Little Traverse Civic Theater actors, guest directed by the winning playwrights, will perform the winning works in Reader’s Theater style.

Between the Covers is offering 20% off all three Stories Told titles for in-store and remote (phone or email) purchases from February 1 through April 30.

Free shipping for orders placed by phone or email.

Bulk discounts are available for schools, libraries, and other non-profit organizations.

McLean & Eakin is offering 20% off all three Stories Told titles – in-store and online – from February 1 through April 30.

Petoskey District Library has print and digital copies of Measuring Up, Other Words for Home, and Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks.

NOTE: All families and schools in our five-county region can access the digital copies of these titles through their local library; call your local library for assistance.

You are encouraged to explore your local or district libraries for print, digital, or audiobook copies of the Stories Told Books.

Educators: If titles are limited in number, consider a classroom read-aloud, which would only require one book!

Through a generous sponsorship from the Robert Jensen Dau Foundation, Next Gen will distribute complimentary copies of Jason Reynolds' book to those who attend the Kennedy Center's Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts. Based on proximity and group size, books will be available for pickup at the Center or delivered to schools in advance of the performance.

Harbor Springs Festival of the Book is presenting a live webinar with Jasmine Warga, author of Other Words for Home, and will generously give away approximately 500 free copies to registered educators (1 book per 10 students). Other Words for Home is available thanks to a grant from the Michigan Arts & Culture Council. Books will be mailed or delivered in advance of the March 13 webinar.

Explore opportunities for mini-grants through your school, district, and/or school board to cover the cost of a bulk book order from one of our collaborating booksellers.

Many community foundations have rolling deadlines for small grants, which often work well for projects like books that are part of larger, community-wide literacy projects.

LINKS

Reach out to GLCFA Director of Education and Community Engagement, Rachel Sytsma-Reed, at rachel@greatlakescfa.org or 231.439.2604.