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Those of us who dedicate our lives to storytelling are united in sending a
message of support and solidarity to the whole of society with respect to the crisis resulting from illness due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Just like the characters in the best tales, we find ourselves in the middle of a dense
forest, with a feeling that the wolf is lurking in the darkness. But we know we are not alone, because someone always appears to help us out of the forest or the wolf's stomach! In this story we all count, and our collective solidarity, effort and care are our spells against the virus and its effects.
So the storytellers are asking you to tell, make up, read and listen to stories, anecdotes or happenings
in order to cheat time,
in order to take a trip without leaving home,
in order to smile or tremble through the most incredible adventures,
in order to remember the elderly and all the stories they have told us,
in order to recognise ourselves in joy, pain or fear,
in order to let the world spin for a moment in which nothing matters except being together at that very moment.
For our part, we will continue to make up and tell stories in our homes and through
social media. We do not yet know the end of this story, or whether we will all live happily ever after, but what we do know is that the fear we are feeling is shared and does not make us less brave, but makes us more human and fragile.
Just like the characters in the best tales, some day, when all this is over, we will have been transformed, and we will have new stories to tell.
Because storytelling is a balsam for days of confinement with thousands of years of proven effectiveness behind it and which once again must bring humanity together around the fire, until the night is through.
This manifesto was written in March 2020 by representatives of all the storytelling associations in Spain: AEDA, Spanish Professional Oral Tradition Association – ANIN, Storytelling Association (Catalonia) – GNOA, Andalusian Oral Tradition Guild – MANO, Madrid Oral Tradition Association – NANO, Storytellers' Organisation (Community of Valencia) – NOGA, Galician Oral Tradition Collective – TAGORAL, Canaries Association of the Oral Tradition.
