UH Hilo’s Wailau seeks storyteller applications for Spring 2022

TheUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Hilo invites the community to apply to be Wailau storytellers.

Wailau is a storytelling event meant to build connections across the UH Hilo campus and with the wider community. The fourth episode of Wailau premieres in spring 2022 with the theme Tales of Misunderstanding. Storyteller applications are being accepted through Friday, February 11, 2022.

Organizers for Wailau, which means “where water from diverse sources comes together to commingle and become a more powerful, unified whole,” aim to spotlight voices and stories that fit Wailau themes in interesting ways, showcasing five storytellers at each online event: a UH Hilo faculty member, staff member, student, alum, and a Hawaiʻi Island community member. Submissions are also welcome from former faculty and staff members and storytellers of all ages.

Between the application deadline (Friday, February 11, 2022) and the premiere (Saturday, May 7, 2022), storytellers are offered a coaching session, take part in an on-stage meeting/rehearsal, and then recorded sharing their Tales of Misunderstanding on UH Hilo’s Performing Arts stage in advance of the online premiere. If storytellers are unable to attend on-stage taping, self-taped stories are accepted.

UH Hilo students play a major role in staging Wailau, from selecting the theme and stories, to operating lights, sound and cameras, to participating as hosts and storytellers. Students from the English Club determine Wailau themes, review applications, and select storytellers.

Students Braden Savage and Evangeline Lemieux share their thoughts on the spring Wailau theme: “We misunderstand things all the time, and we’re sure this is a common experience with many people. Interesting situations can arise out of these misunderstandings. They can place us in circumstances we couldn’t have expected at all.”

Those interested in being a storyteller have an opportunity to view earlier episodes before completing their application. Visit the Wailau Archives at https://hilo.hawaii.edu/wailau/archives/.

To apply to be a Wailau storyteller and learn more, see: hilo.hawaii.edu/wailau/.