Storytelling fest set for Nov. 20, 21 at E.B. library

Syd Lieberman will be the featured performer at the East Brunswick Friends of the Library’s 12th annual James Hess Folklore and Storytelling Festival set for 8 p.m. on Nov. 20 and 2 p.m. on Nov. 21 at the library, Jean Walling Civic Center. Tickets are on sale at the library circulation desk.

The Nov. 20 evening performance, “Eavesdropping on Life,” is intended for adults and older teens. Tickets cost $15 and include a dessert buffet after the show.

The Nov. 21 matinee, “Tricksters, Fools and Wise Men: Folktales From Around the World,” is geared to families with children age 7 and up. Tickets cost $3 each, with a maximum charge of $7 per family.

Individuals who cannot get to the library to purchase tickets may do so through the mail. A $1 charge will be added for mailed tickets.

Lieberman, who has appeared in some of the country’s most prestigious storytelling venues, is making his first East Brunswick Library appearance in 10 years. He is known for his anecdotes about growing up in a close-knit Jewish neighborhood in Chicago. Commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., to tell the tale of the “intrepid birdmen” aviators of World War I, Lieberman last year also created “The Dead Sea Scrolls: Pieces of an Ancient Puzzle” for the Van Andel Museum, Grand Rapids, Mich. A noted interpreter of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, he also starred with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary in the 1996 Chicago presentation of “Do It Yourself Chanukah.” Lieberman was inducted into the National Circle of Excellence, the highest honor in storytelling.

Major corporate sponsors for the storytelling festival are Comcast, Johnson and Johnson, Target and The Karma Foundation. Individual/family sponsorships are available at $60, and small business sponsorships are offered at $100.

Both sponsorships are partially tax-deductible and include two seats for the adult program, family seating for the matinee and a listing in the souvenir program.

For more information on tickets and sponsorships, call (732) 390-6789 or (732) 390-6783.