275: Liberian Storytelling and Oral Tradition (with Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev)
We’re joined by author Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev, an incredible storyteller and educator. We talk about how myths are purposeful, cautionary storytelling, and the differences between oral storytelling and literary traditions.
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of parental death, grief, animal attacks, drowning, and kidnapping.
Guest
Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev was born in Liberia, where she was exposed to a culture of oral storytelling at a young age. She lived in the Netherlands for several years, where she learned to stuff her klompen (wooden shoes) with carrots and developed a love for reading stories—especially tales written by Roald Dahl and Astrid Lindgren. She lives in Georgia with her family. Pre-order her book, The Leopard Behind the Moon, today!
Housekeeping
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- Recommendation: This week, Amanda recommends Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
- Books: Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books
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About Us
Spirits was created by Julia Schifini, Amanda McLoughlin and Eric Schneider. We are founding members of Multitude, an independent podcast collective and production studio. Our music is "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.
