PORT ANGELES — When Elizabeth Shepherd comes from her Bainbridge Island home to tell a fairy tale, she’s not merely bouncing words off your ears.
Shepherd, who will offer the ancient story of Zoulvisia at the Port Angeles Library this Tuesday night, believes such things are not just for children.
To her mind, Zoulvisia — from The Olive Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — takes listeners on a fascinating journey within.
“Fairy tales allow people to uncover different layers in themselves and gain new insights into the world around us,” Shepherd said in a telephone interview from Bainbridge last week.
A storyteller since girlhood, Shepherd will come to town for the Story People of Clallam County’s monthly swap at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Raymond Carver Room at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
“I see fairy tales not as an escape,” she said, “but as a way to shift into a new way of thinking” by stepping inside a different place and time.
Shepherd’s Zoulvisia story will unfold in about 45 minutes, so it’s not suitable for toddlers, she added.
But for older kids and adults, such tales can open the heart to a fresh perspective on life.
Shepherd herself found such renewal when she went to a weeklong residency with internationally known storyteller Laura Simms.
Simms, whose philosophy can be summed up by her phrase “Rejoice regardless,” taught the workshop at the Wellspring retreat center in Philo, Calif., in 2005, and Shepherd has been inspired ever since.
Simms, who was also a featured teller in the Forest Storytelling Festival in Port Angeles last year, helped Shepherd develop her skill in connecting with listeners.
“I really like small groups” like the Story People gatherings here, Shepherd said.
Telling a story “is an intimate exchange; it’s not a one-way street.”
The Story People invite the public to swaps at the library every second Tuesday of the month from September through May.
For more information about the group, phone 360-457-4881.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.