Calling all storytellers and water lovers!
On February 5, 2026, 7pm, Flow Water Advocates is teaming up with Here:Say Storytelling to present a night of true, first-person stories about water – from ice hockey, to fishing, to why you love boating with your grandma. The Great Lakes are more than just a natural wonder — they shape who we are. They hold our memories, fuel our creativity, sustain our communities, and inspire awe, generation after generation. We Are Made From Rivers brings together local storytellers to share powerful testimony to the waters that made us.
Save the Date:
Who: Flow Water Advocates & Here:Say Storytelling & Beth Price Photography
What: We Are Made From Rivers, a local true, first-person storytelling event
When: February 5, 2026 at 7pm
Where: Kirkbride Hall, Traverse City
We’re looking for 5 to 6 storytellers to share their experiences at Kirbride Hall at 7pm on February 5. The event will also feature the photography of Beth Price, an outstanding editorial and commercial photographer based in Northern Michigan.
Each performer will participate in Here:Say Storytelling’s workshopping process. This is required to ensure a congruence between each story. The workshopping process will take place between November and January and prepare each story and storyteller for the performance.
To pitch your story idea:
- Submit your story idea via the Google Form in a 1 paragraph pitch. Tell the quick abbreviated version of your story. Submit your pitch by September 30, 2025.
- Stories will be selected and storytellers will be notified by October 17, 2025.
- The workshopping process with Kabie Stein and Here:Say Storytelling and will begin after selection.
- Contact Marshall at Marshall@FlowForWater.org for more questions.
Frequently asked questions:
What’s the Here:Say vibe?
To listen to past shows to get to know the Here:Say vibe and a sense of the storytelling model we follow, listen to the podcast.
What kind of storytelling background is required?
No experience necessary. All that’s required is an openness to engaging in the story workshopping process and a willingness to tell your story on stage to an audience.
What kind of stories are you looking for?
Here:Say stories are true, first-person narratives that tell the story of a specific experience the teller had within their lives. There’s no requirement about tone (it doesn’t have to be a funny story), but it should be meaningful to you in some way and make for an entertaining story.
What does it mean to tell a “first-person” story?
You can say of your story, “This is an experience that happened to me.”
What kind of stories are you *not* looking for?
There are many perfectly legitimate forms of storytelling, but some are meant to be read rather than listened to aloud. But we don’t necessarily give an automatic “no” to the stories that we think just don’t work on stage – instead, if you are game for it, we will workshop the story with you to find a way to tell it in a way that aligns with the Here:Say model.
The type of stories we tend to avoid on the Here:Say stage?
Memoir that covers a whole lot of timeline, “journey” stories that evaluate an experience instead of telling what happened, long anecdotes that only serve to get to a punchline, other people’s stories, rants and comedy riffs on an overall topic, fiction, stories that comment on the process of telling a story.
How long are the stories?
Stories are about 10 minutes in length, which translates to approximately 5 double-spaced pages in Word.
What is the workshopping process?
The process will begin the first week of November and will conclude the end of January to ensure enough time to practice before the show. An extra 30 days was added to accomodate the holidays toward the end of the year. The process is outlined below:
- Submit the 1 paragraph pitch at the link above via the Google Form.
- If selected, you will be introduced to Kabie Stein via email by Flow Water Advocates.
- Write your story, then submit a draft via email to Kabie. (Word preferred.)
- Kabie reads the story and returns the draft to you with feedback. Typically this feedback is provided as comments/questions in the document itself and an overall response in the email.
- Submit revised draft to Kabie Stein.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 as needed, until you and Kabie both feel it’s ready for stage.
- Perform your story live on February 5, 2026.
