Specialty: Comedic Stories
Energetic Norm Brecke revels in telling a good story. Nancy Page, owner of Island books, says, “Norm calls it ‘family storytelling’ we call it heaven for half an hour.” He is a regular at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle where he has told 8 times. He is currently hosting two monthly events in Portland that are a combination of professionally told stories and open mic to reach new audiences. Norm is a featured teller for the Portland Storytellers’ Guild 2015-16 season as he has been the last three years. Norm teaches storytelling to children with his after-school storytelling club, currently with Portland Saturday Academy.
Before moving to Portland he produced many storytelling events in the Seattle area, served as President of the Seattle Storyteller’s Guild, was the Seattle liaison for the National Storytelling Network, and a full time kindergarten teacher. He found time to develop a program and teach storytelling to children for 8 years in after school programs in the Seattle area.
Notable projects for Norm have been narrating for the Seattle Symphony, telling at the ALA conference in Anaheim, being a featured teller at the Powellswood Garden Storytelling Festival in Federal Way Washington, touring ten cities with his “Lighter Side of Lincoln” show, and opening for Mary-Gay Ducey and Jay O’Callahan at the 2014 Forest Storytelling Festival. Norm continues to regularly perform in various venues in the Pacific Northwest and he enjoys every minute of it.