Beth Horner is known for her broad repertoire of stories with musical flair.

The Chicago-based storyteller draws from a variety of styles and stories: from her raucous childhood farmyard escapades to eerie folktales of her native Missouri, from her side-splitting spoof on romance novels to a quietly courageous tale of a young female American soldier fighting in Iraq. Horner’s stories emanate from her own life as well as from the far corners of the world.

Whatever the story, Horner’s vivacious style often incorporates music, creating unique performances that have earned her national acclaim. She has performed at the National Storytelling Festival, on Live from National Geographic, and was recently awarded the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Oracle Award.

Teaching the art of storytelling is a particular passion for Beth. An adjunct faculty member at Dominican University in Chicago, she conducts workshops nationwide for school children and university students.

Her current project is working with NASA to collect the stories of the Apollo missions.

Beth’s goal as a storyteller is to entertain and to encourage her listeners to dip into the wealth of their own imaginations. “When you hear a story, you create that image yourself. When I’m telling stories to 50 different people, there are 50 different movies going on in the minds of listeners. Nothing is as powerful or vivid as your own imagination.”

Beth Horner will be the featured storyteller at this year’s Kearney Storytelling Festival to be held January 18-23. The Festival, in its 14^th year, is a celebration of visual and spoken arts for all ages. Funding for the Festival depends on the generosity of donors, grants from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Humanities Council, and performance fees. The Storytelling Festival is a non-profit volunteer organization working in cooperation with the Kearney Area Community Foundation.