YABS Artist Info

Tololwa Mollel

Phone Number (Work)	780-990-6877
Phone Number (Cell)	780-990-6877
Phone Number (Home)	780-432-7477
Fax Number	780-432-7468
Email Address	tololwamollel@ymail.com

Other Information
Artist Type	Author, Storyteller, Playwright
Target Grades	Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Adult
Maximum Audience Size	100
Presentations Per Day	4
Full Day Rate	$700
Half Day Rate	$400
Presentation Requirements
Touring With Taleblazers	Yes

Biography

Bibliography

The Orphan Boy. Illustrated by Paul Morin. Don Mills: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Fall 2007 New edition with new illustrations and cover.; New York: Clarion Books, 1991. (With author narrated cassette.) Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 1990. The book has also been published in South Africa in English, and in Zulu, Xhosa, Setswana and Afrikaans. Broadcast on radio in twelve African countries.

To Dinner, For Dinner. Illustrated by Synthia Saint James. New York: Holiday House, Fall 2000.

Subira Subira. Illustrated by Linda Sapport. New York: Clarion Books (imprint of Houghton Mifflin), 2000.

My Rows and Piles of Coins. Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. New York: Clarion Books, 1999.

Song Bird. Illustrated by Roseanne Litzinger. New York: Clarion Books 1999. Available in Canada from Thomas Allen & Sons.

Shadow Dance. Illustrated by Donna Peronne. New York: Clarion Books, 1998. Available in Canada from Thomas Allen & Sons.

Kitoto the Mighty. Illustrated by Kristi Frost. Don Mills, Ontario: Stoddart Publishing Company Ltd., 1998.

Dume's Roar. Illustrated by Kathy Blankley-Roman. Don Mills, Stoddart, 1997.

Ananse's Feast. Illustrated by Andrew Glass. New York: Clarion Books, 1997. Available in Canada from Thomas Allen & Sons. Translated into Korean.

Keles Secret. Illustrated by Catherine Stock. New York: Lodestar Books, 1997; Don Mills: Stoddart, 1997.

Big Boy. Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. New York: Clarion Books, 1995; Don Mills: Stoddart, 1995.

The Flying Tortoise. Illustrated by Barbara Spurl. New York: Clarion Books, 1995; Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 1994. Translated into Korean.

The King and the Tortoise. Illustrated by Kathy Blankley. New York: Clarion Books, 1993; Toronto: Lester Publishing Co. 1993. Translated into Zulu, Xhosa, and Afrikaans languages in South Africa.

The Princess Who Lost Her Hair. Illustrated by Charles Reasoner. New Jersey: Troll Books, 1992.

A Promise to the Sun. Illustrated by Beatriz Vidal. Boston, London & Toronto: Little, Brown & Co., 1992. Translated into Afrikaans in South Africa.

Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper. Illustrated by Barbara Spurl. New York: Clarion Books, 1992; (With author narrated audio cassette.) Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 1991. The story aired on the CTV Network in Ontario, Canada, November 8, 1991. Translated into Zulu, Xhosa and Setswana in South Africa.

The Orphan Boy. Illustrated by Paul Morin. New York: Clarion Books, 1991. (With author narrated cassette.) Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 1990. Published in South Africa in English, and in Zulu, Xhosa, Setswana and Afrikaans. Broadcast on radio in twelve African countries.

Theatrical Projects
The Hippopotamus and the Heart of a Hare. A children's play that Tololwa is working on for a production by the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton.

A Promise to the Sun. 2005. A children's play that Tololwa adapted from his book of the same title, and which was produced by Concrete Theatre of Edmonton. He had earlier used versions of the play for a library summer literacy program in Sherwood Park near Edmonton and for a children's summer camp in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

African Story Evening. 2003. A project that Tololwa did with Jericho Elementary, a K-4 school in Jericho, Vermont. In an intensely busy week, he created scripts out of five stories he had prepared for the project, one story for each grade. Collaborating closely with enthusiastic and supportive teachers, he worked with over 200 students to shape the scripts into theatrical presentations. These, together with African cuisine and fabric fashion show, provided quite an evening for parents and the community.

The Visit of the Sea Queen. 2001. A story that Tololwa created for a dance production. He collaborated with a Calgary-based children's dance company of 50 youngsters and 4 choreographers and a music composer. Performances took place in Calgary and Lethbridge, Alberta, to Tololwa's recorded narrative.

The Twins and the Monster. 2001- to-date. A story that Tololwa created for a musical production for children by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO). The music was composed by John Estacio. Since its debut, the story has been performed annually to elementary schools and families by ESO and symphonies in cities across Canada, including Victoria, Hamilton and Calgary. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra did productions of it in 2005 and 2006. Recently it made its debut in the U.S. with a production in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Flying Tortoise. 1999. A children's play for a production by the Fringe Theatre Adventures (FTA) Company of Edmonton. Tololwa adapted it from his book of the same title. Months earlier, collaborating with FTA and a children's theatre director, he had workshopped the story with the entire student body of McLeod Elementary school in Edmonton. Through the workshopping, he created a school play that was performed by 80 children.

Presentations

For younger students
With elementary students, Tololwa's presentations are part storytelling, part reading from his books, part sharing of brief demonstrative remarks about the sources for and the African setting in his writing. Depending on the age and nature of an audience, he also touches on questions related to books and his writing and creative process. Tololwa tries as much as possible to get his audience to do something, participate in some way: whether in doing a song or chant, movement, sound effects, or an abbreviated storytelling circle; and through a question and answer segment.

For older students
With older students in junior and senior high school, Tololwa discusses ideas about the writing process and the demands and nature of creative artistic work, and other related matters. To avoid boring students to death, he aims for a demonstrative presentation. He makes his points through anecdotes about his experiences in creative work, overheads or slides of photographs from theatrical productions and of illustration from his books. He also shares/performs excerpts from his stories and/or plays. He likes particularly to demonstrate from his own experience, the journey that a tale travels from - its form as a story to its form as a dramatic piece on stage.

Workshops
Tololwa centers his workshops on the activity of storytelling and some dramatization, and works with smaller groups of 25 maximum. He uses writing as an important vehicle and reflective tool at different stages of the workshop process. A model for the workshop that Tololwa follows is this. He shares an engaging story which he then gets the students as a group to retell in a storytelling circle, more than once as time allows. At a certain point, Tololwa divides the students into sub-groups, each of which does its own storytelling circle. The idea is to have the students become more and more familiar and confident with the story in the process of the workshop, and to have the story grow more detailed and textured, and richer. Perhaps, eventually, some dramatization creeps into the process, or is allowed or encouraged to creep in, making the activity part storytelling, and part dramatic. At the end of it all, Tololwa will have given the students a chance to reflect on and interpret the story as to what it means to them on a human, social and artistic level as a group, sub-group and individually. Tololwa adapts his workshops to suit all age groups through his choice of age appropriate stories to share and work on. He can also adapt his workshop model into a long term project.

Space and Group Size:
Tololwa can work with students from Kindergarten to Senior High, grouped compatibly. Tololwa works in all types of spaces, but prefers not to do his presentations in the gym, if it can be avoided. He works with up to 100 students per group, smaller groups, 25 maximum, for workshops. He likes to discuss his visit with his host beforehand, and requests a note from the school detailing particulars of the visit.

Awards

Tololwa Mollel

Other Information