Storyteller Bernice Gei-Ying Hune will visit the Courtenay Library this Saturday at 2 p.m.
Hune is this year’s TD Canadian Children’s Book Week visiting storyteller.
A storyteller and arts educator, Hune shares a legacy of stories in performance. She tells traditional Asian folk tales, Canadian stories and immigrant history stories to delight and inform audiences of all ages.
Her storytelling performances have been featured at various conferences, museums and festivals in Canada. Most recently, she was invited to the Singapore International Storytelling Festival.
She grew up in Toronto and studied painting and art history at university. ‘All ears’ as a child, Bernice heard songs and stories in Cantonese that created a magical world of rich traditions.
‘All ears’ remembers Chinese elders talking of the railway, the head tax and the struggle to overcome barriers. Stories of Chinese Canadians are called Gold Mountain Stories for the gold rush of the 1850s that brought Pacific immigrants to pioneer North America.
Fresh from university, Bernice performed as an actor; then co-hosted a CBC radio program. Her 30 years of work in education as a visual artist and storyteller is widely recognized in Ontario. She has made over 900 visits to schools and libraries.
She is the recipient of awards from Storytelling Toronto, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council.
Hune will perform at the Courtenay Library on May 12 at 2 p.m. This is a free event and all are welcome to attend.
The library thanks the Canada Council for its generous support of this event. For more information please contact Mary Donlan, Courtenay Library, at 250-334-3369.
— Courtenay Library
