Margo McLoughlin will entertain and inspire listeners with an evening of varied stories as the featured teller at the free Story Swap, Tuesday, September 17^th at 7 p.m. in the Carver room of the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St. 

Margo will tell a selection of stories, including – “The Virtuous Elephant-King” (one of the Jataka tales), plus “The Committee,” the story of the founding of a world-wide organization. Two personal stories will round out the evening, “Theme Song” and “Melda,” the first about finding a theme song for one’s life, and the second about a remarkable woman who lived in the Comox Valley, but whose dedication to the environment made a difference across the whole of the province.

Expect to hear some otherworldly music as part of the storytelling evening. Margo will be bringing her hang, a metal drum that resembles a small UFO.

A writer, storyteller, and teacher, Margo McLoughlin grew up on the west coast of Canada. She studied theatre and history at McGill University in Montreal, volunteered as a teacher in Nigeria, and worked as a puppeteer at the Campbell River Museum on Vancouver Island. She completed a Master’s degree at the Divinity School at Harvard, where she studied Sanskrit and Pali.

As a consultant with the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Margo collected more than 200 folktales from world cultures on the theme of generosity. She travelled to Mississippi to co-facilitate community retreats with social justice groups, drawing on the power of story to open conversations and build relationships.

Currently, Margo is a board member of the BC Association for Living Mindfully (BCALM) and leads retreats and classes with the Victoria Insight Meditation Society. She translates, adapts, and performs stories from the Buddhist tradition, as well as historical tales from the BC Coast, and world tales of giving and receiving.

Margo is also currently building a repertoire of stories about individuals whose long-range vision and commitment to the environment have changed the world.

Reviews: Storyteller Jay O’Callahan: “Margo uses her voice as a lovely and varied instrument.”

“About twenty of us sat in a circle and as soon as Margo pulled the circle in, which she did somehow, mysteriously, she cast a net.  She created a momentous sense of occasion.  She held our attention, thoroughly, for a hour.  Her voice was soothing, but it was also captivating.  She told the stories as though they were her own.  She never fumbled; she never forgot a line.  Her voice was the only thing happening and we were willing to follow it anywhere.  

~ Arleen Paré, Victoria, BC