Jennie Frost is a professional storyteller. She tells stories—folktales, literature, myth, and history—to any audience, kindergarten to adult. Because Jennie studied Classics at university, she has a large repertoire of Greek and Roman stories. She offers workshops in storytelling and writing, and weaves story into teaching the Greek alphabet and/or word origins in Latin and Greek.

Since 1996, Jennie has performed in festivals, concerts, conferences, libraries, and schools in 36 Alberta communities and in 6 other provinces. She has told at the Children’s Fringe, Fort Edmonton’s Halloween Spooktacular, the Edmonton Book Fair, and on the steps of the Alberta Legislature. She has given workshops to students gr. 3 – 12, adult beginners, librarian, and other storytellers and authors. She has taught storytelling courses for the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension and for the Edmonton Lifelong Learners Association. Jennie has participated with other storytellers at Taylor Lake, Ontario, and in Vancouver, during which they retold the whole or a substantial part of Homer’s Iliad, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the Indian epic Mahabharata, and the Tibetan epic Gesar of Ling.

Jennie is also an author. In 2005, her first book The Courtship of Hippodameia, the story of a Greek princess, was published (Mellen, Lewiston, New York). In 2005, she also published a 2-CD set Pygmalion and Other Greek Myths (Sheer Vanity Productions, Edmonton), thanks to a Canada Council grant. She has had prizewinning stories and poems published in literary journals and anthologies, most recently being one of the winners of the 2008 Short Grain Contest for her story “Power.”

Jennie is a Past President of Storytellers of Canada—Conteurs du Canada, and was for ten years President, then Treasurer of the Edmonton Chapter of TALES (The Alberta League Encouraging Storytelling). She is a member of the Writers Guild of Alberta, The Edmonton Stroll of Poets, and the Canadian Authors Association. A member of the Children’s Literature Roundtable for twenty years, she has extensive knowledge of children’s literature. She has an M.A. in Ancient History and a B.Ed. (Secondary, Latin). She used to teach Latin full time in Grades 5 – 12 as well as in undergraduate university and adult extension programs.

• “The Tiger and the Frog”, TALES On the Wind, 2-CD set, M. Hays, Ed., upcoming.

• “Power”, Prizewinner, 2008 Short Grain Contest. Grain Magazine, Winter 2008.

• “Near Breaking”, Honourable Mention, Towards the Light 2008 Poetry Contest. Towards the Light Journal of Reflective Word & Image, Summer 2008.

• “Writing”, First Prize, Alberta Innovation Marketplace Poetry Contest, October, 2006.

• Pygmalion and Other Greek Myths, 2-CD set funded by Canada Council, (Sheer Vanity Productions, Edmonton), 2005.

• The Courtship of Hippodameia, Honorable Mention, 2002 Mellen Press Long Poem Contest, Mellen, Lewiston, New York, 2005.

• “The Bear”, Under the Wide Blue Sky: Alberta Stories to Read and Tell, Red Deer Press, 2005.

• “The Swords,” “Iron Will”, “In the Ditch”, Writers Undercover: Tenth Anniversary Issue, Cambridge Writers Collective, 2004.

• “Ariadne at Dusk”, The Classical Outlook, Vol. 81 #1, Fall 2003.

• “Soup Cup”, First Prize, 2002 Amethyst Review Poetry Contest. Published with “Letters of Sympathy”, Amethyst Review, Summer 2002.

• “Blacking the Baby” and piano compositions “Variations on a Tale #1 & 2”, and “On Holiday”, A Collection of TALES: 13 Tales, 13 Voices, CD, TALES, 2001.

• “Living Solo”, The Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature #34, 2000.

• “A Stranger’s Perspective”, Kindred Spirits Magazine, Summer 1999.

• “Constructing Hope”, Word of Heart, Vol. 2 #4.

• “Language Teacher”, The Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature #30, 1998.

• “Story Circle”, Appleseed Quarterly. Vol. 7 #3, 1997.

• “Ghazal”, The Blank Page: Prompts for Writing, Eunice Scarfe, Ed., Edmonton, 1997.

STORYTELLING (K – gr.12)

• a mixture of folktales, narrative poetry, and/or literary stories suited to the age group of the audience

• whole programs of
o Greek mythology or history
o Roman legends and history
o Chinese folk tales
o Hans Christian Andersen tales (gr. 4-6 or junior/senior high)
o literary stories (junior/senior high)
o Ghosts and Gore (gr. 6 – 12)
o Halloween Happenings (K – gr. 6)

TALKS (gr.6 – 12)

• Readings and talk about my writing/storytelling process (gr. 6 – 12).

• A Quick History of the English Language (gr.7 – 12).

WORKSHOPS (1 class)

• How to Learn to Tell a Story (2 hours)

• Living in the Story World: Deepening Characters and Setting in Writing or Telling Stories (1 or 2 hours)

• Rubbing Noses With the Sky: Writing With Vivid Sensory Detail. Can be slanted towards poetry or prose. (1 or 2 hours)

• Learn to Write the Greek Alphabet, with stories and vocabulary-building discussion (2 hours)

2006: Granted a week-long residency at the Banff Centre to prepare a poetry manuscript.

2005: Nominated for the City of Edmonton Enbridge Emerging Artist Award, 2005.