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Donna Washington's Biography |
Donna was born an army brat in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She traveled
all over with world with her parents. Her father would sit at the
dinner table and spin the wildest yarns imaginable. He taught her
Arthurian Legend and Greek Mythology by telling the stories in the
first person. She thought he had actually been with Merlin and Oedipus.
She thought he was thousands of years old. Donna spent from second
to sixth grade in Seoul Korea. It was during these years that her
parents adopted three Amerasian children. Through it all, she learned
about different people, places and of course, learned their stories. |
Donna attended Northwestern University and was involved with numerous
theatrical productions. It was at this time that storytelling reemerged
as something she wanted to learn more about. In the four years she
was there, she began to make storytelling a central part of her
performance life. |
Her first recording work was done with Warren Coleman Productions.
She provided the talent on a storytelling tape that was so successful
for Children's Press that the tape was used to make four wordless
picture books. It was at this time that Donna began writing books.
Her first writing project was an anthology. It has been in the works
for almost twelve years. A Pride of African Tales was released in
December 2003. Award winning illustrator, James Ransome provided
the lush watercolor pictures for the book. It received rave reviews
from the American Library Association (ALA) Booklist and the School
Library Journal. Pride has been nominated for the Pennsylvania 2005-2006
Young Reader's Choice Award Donna's second book, The Story of Kwanzaa,
has been in print for eleven years. It is a wonderful primer for
kids about the African-American celebration of Kwanzaa. Donna's
third book, A Big Spooky House, is a wonderful book to read aloud
at Halloween. Her next book will be entitled Li'l Rabbit's Kwanzaa
and will be published by HarperCollins Children's Books. |
Donna is also a multiple award winning recording artist. She received
a 2002 Parent's Choice Award for her first independent recording
"Live and Learn: The Exploding Frog and Other Stories". The October
2004 edition of the ALA Booklist gave Donna's second CD, "A Little
Shiver", a recommended review. It also won the 2004 Parents' Choice
Silver Honor Award and 2005 Storytelling World Honors. Her third
CD "Fun, Foolery, and Folktales" also won the 2004 Parents' Choice
Silver Honor Award and a 2006 Storytelling World Honors. Her fourth
CD "The Sword and The Rose" has won an iParenting Media 2005 Excellent
Product Award, a 2005 Parents' Choice Silver Honor Award and a 2006
Storytelling World Award. All of her CDs have won 2005 Children's
Music Web Awards. Donna's fifth CD "Angels' Laughter" was just released
in May 2006. |
Donna has performed at thousands of schools & libraries and numerous
storytelling festivals throughout the country. She has also been
featured at numerous storytelling festivals including the 2004 National
Storytelling Festival, The Illinois Storytelling Festival, The Three
Rivers Festival, The St. Louis Storytelling Festival, The NC StoryFest,
The Corn Island and Cave Run Festivals in KY, and the Broward County
Children's & Ocala Storytelling Festivals in FL- just to name a
few. |
She also offers workshops in storytelling, writing, education, and
creative drama for librarians and educators as well. Some of her
recent workshops venues include the National Storytellers Conference,
Forsyth School Media Association, US Army Corps of Engineers, North
Carolina Library Association Conference, Virginia Library Association
Conference, Georgia Council of Media Organizations Conference, South
Carolina Library Association Conference, National Storytelling Conference,
International Reading Association Conference, Mary Lois Staton Conference
at ECU, and keynote speaker & presenter at the North Carolina Elementary
Educators Conference among others. |
These days you can find her traveling the country at festivals,
conferences, schools, & libraries telling stories & giving workshops
for anyone who is willing to listen to her. |
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