For 15 years, Yarnslingers has invited people across the Catskills and Northeastern Pennsylvania to share true stories from their own lives. Now, the nonprofit is marking that milestone with two new projects designed to preserve those stories and introduce them to new audiences.
The organization has launched This Happened, a podcast produced in partnership with Radio Catskill, alongside This Happened: Yarnslingers Book One, an anthology featuring stories from 25 regional writers.
In the debut podcast episode, producer, editor and host Greg Triggs interviews Yarnslingers founding member, Ramona Jan, about how the organization began.
Triggs, who now serves as producer and director of Yarnslingers, said the organization’s 15th anniversary offered an opportunity to celebrate its history while beginning a new chapter.
“It just seemed like there was time for a little spirit of reinvention and to celebrate all that Ramona had accomplished,” Triggs said.
He said grants from the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance helped make both the podcast and anthology possible.
Rather than simply presenting performances, the podcast explores the stories behind the stories. Triggs said episodes will feature conversations with writers about what inspired them to write, the people involved in their experiences and the process of turning personal memories into public storytelling.
Looking ahead, he hopes the series will gradually expand beyond the region by featuring writers from other parts of the country and occasionally taking Yarnslingers events on the road.
Triggs said one of storytelling’s greatest strengths is its ability to build empathy.
“I think sometimes that’s because they feel thwarted in self-expression,” he said of people struggling to connect with others. “One of the things that I love about Yarnslingers … is it really is a tool for people to take advantage of if they want to amplify their voice.”
Over the years, Triggs has heard hundreds of personal stories and says certain themes appear again and again.
Many first-time participants write about childhood experiences or major life transitions, often sharing memories they have carried for years. He said it’s common for storytellers to become emotional during their first performances as they revisit formative moments and the people connected to them.
One story featured in This Happened: Yarnslingers Book One follows a woman leaving a religious cult after more than 30 years. Triggs described the essay as both humorous and moving, centered on the seemingly ordinary experience of ordering a hamburger at Burger King after spending decades in a tightly controlled community.
Yarnslingers will celebrate the anthology’s release and its 15th anniversary during a book launch on Sunday, Aug. 2, at 12:30 p.m. at the Blue Fox Motel in Narrowsburg.
Image: Humorist and writer Bizzy Coy reads at a Yarnslingers event. (Eddie Marritz)