Campfire Stories is a collection of short stories to be read together around a fire. Please join us as we welcome Dave & Ilyssa Kyu, co-authors of Campfire Stories on Saturday, November 10th from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm. This event will be combined with our holiday preview weekend!
Our national parks are beautiful and unique places, often serving as an introduction to the outdoors and inspiring an appreciation for nature and wilderness. Similarly, stories and storytelling can serve as an introduction to other places and foster a powerful emotional connection to nature. Campfire Stories brings together tales about our national parks; some are by well-known writers such as John Muir, Bill Bryson, and Terry Tempest Williams, while others are from pioneer diaries or have been passed down through generations of indigenous peoples.
Co-editors Dave and Ilyssa Kyu spent six months traveling and researching the stories collected here. They gathered the best materials from public libraries, historical societies, arts and cultural organizations, museums, research centers, and national park archives. Park rangers, historians, artists, curators, educators, and local residents all offered guidance and suggestions. The goal was to discover entertaining, diverse, and engaging writings that reflect each park's essence--as well as just fun to share. Campfire Stories focuses on these six iconic national parks:
Acadia National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Rocky Mountain National ParkK
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park
Zion National Park
Each story includes an "About this Story" reflection, offering insight into how Dave and Ilyssa discovered the tale, why they selected it, and some background about its writer. Dave and Ilyssa also share their own thoughts on each of the parks they visited, as well as tips on how to be a compelling storyteller.
Campfire Stories was published with Mountaineers Books in August 2018.
The book is an anthology of tales, songs, ballads, legends, short stories and myths collected from the communities in and around 6 of America’s favorite National Parks. The stories capture the essence of these lands and give a voice to the communities that share them—evoking deeper respect for these places.
Because these stories have been collected from the communities in and around the parks, they will capture the diverse history, cultures, people, and experiences of those that that have collectively built, shared, and enjoyed these parks across the country. We hope these short stories will reignite our imagination about the wild.