Review Links of A to Z Blog Challenges

Each April we participate in the A to Z Blog Challenge, a worldwide phenomenon.  To make it easy to see the links connected to these Challenges, we have included an archive of them below.  Feel free to share and to comment.

So far we have listings for Year 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 as well as Year 2015 below. We are starting to list the 2023 posts. Jump to our first Challenge with the 2015 posts by clicking here. 

Year 2023

Theme: Finding Resilience & Strength through Traditional Tales

A = Army-Raising Puma vs. You (Cricket)
B = Bag & Bottle (Boots) vs. Troll
C = City-Saving Cobbler (Shoemaker) vs. Dragon
D = Desserts vs. Rakshasas
E = Eel vs. Sina
F = Fire vs. Monster
G = Grass vs. Hunters
H = Hyeokgeose & Heavenly Horse vs. Three Kingdoms
I = Icy Individuals vs. Orphan
J = Jackals vs. Tiger
K = Kick-butt Knowledge vs. Wolves
L = Laziness vs. Cheetahs
M = Mermaid vs. Sorrow
N = Nung Gwama vs. Woman
O = Obedience vs. Sacrifice
P = Phya In vs. Gourd
Q = Queen vs. Memory
R = Robbers vs. Hermit
S = Sleep vs. Turtle-on-Bed
T = Tsunami vs. Village
U = Uniaí vs. Family (especially brothers)
V = Vulcan vs. Venus
W = Woman vs. Shape-shifting Monster
X = Xolotl vs. Quetzacoatl
Y = Yarn vs. Scissors
Z = Zennor’s Cherry vs. Curiosity

Year 2022

Theme: Dual Natures in Folktales Around the World – opposites, contradictions & paradoxes

A = Anxious Aniello
B = Beautiful Box
C = Crying Castor
D = Dazzling Diamonds
E = Eternal Ennui
F = Flying Food
G = Grappling Gwyn & Gwythyr
H = Heralding Harambee
I = Inviting Izanagi & Izanami
J = Jumping Jaguar
K = Keeping Keepers
L = Laidly Lady
M = Manly Mulan
N = Noble Nightingale
O = Obnoxious Ogre
P = Perplexed Persephone
Q = Questioning Queen
R = Reincarnated Rama
S = Sorrowing Selkie
T = Tricky Terrapin
U = Ubiquitous Untrue
V = Voracious Vegetarian
W = Wounded Wiles
X = Xany Xhuuya
Y = Yoruba Youth
Z = Zaftig Zilant

Year 2021

Theme: Beating the Odds…Lucky Folktales Around the World to Brighten Your Day

A = Against Apollo
B = Beating Bandits
C = Countering Curses
D = Defeating Dragon-Lady
E = Evading Elephants
F = Foxing Foxes
G = Giving Giants
H = Hoodwinking Hippos
I = Irritating Imps
J = Jiving Judges
K = Kludging Kangaroos
L = Lamenting Llamas
M = Manipulating Moose
N = Not-What-They-Seem Nariphons
O = Outwitting Ogres
P = Pranking Primates & Perplexing Pirates
Q = Questioning Quails
R = Redeeming Rats
S = Soothsaying Spirits & Slip-Upping Snake-Siblings
T = Tricking Tigers
U = Understanding Undead-Unknowns
V = Vexing Viracocha
W = Wondering Walruses & Woe-be-gones
X = Xeroxing Xbalanque
Y = Yammering Yetis
Z = Zipping-Around Zashiki-warashi

Year 2020

Theme: Hope & Healing…Folktales Around the World That Beat Back Viruses

A = Apples of Alteration
B = Blindness Banishment
C = Councils & Communions
D = Defying Death
E = Elixirs of Exuberance
F = Fences that Fix
G = Guts that Give Life
H = Helping Heads
I = Infertility Interdicted
J = Joyful Journeys
K = Knock-Out-Of-The-Park Kissing
L = Loving Laughter
M = Mother Magic & Motivation
N = Neutralizing & Negotiating
O = Omnipotent Ointment
P = Purging the Physique
Q = Quarantined Quarters
R = Rescuing Ropes & Rain
S = Soothing Spirits & Sweet-Nothings
T = Tending & Telling Tales
U = Unusual & Useful
V = Vultures of Vitality
W = What-The-Doctor-Ordered Water & Women
X = Xi (Greece) & Xi (China)
Y = Youngest Youth & You-Bet-On-Luck
Z = Zealously Zen

Year 2019

Theme: Golden…And All Things That Glimmer

A = Golden Arms, Apples, & Axes
B = Golden Bird
C = Golden Calf, Cucumber, & City
D = Golden Duck
E = Golden Elephant Tusks
F = Golden Fish, Flute, Fleece & Feast
G = Golden Goose, Gizzard, & Godmother
H = Golden Hair, Hairpin, & Hand
I = Golden Iguana & Items
J = Golden Jersey & Jackal
K = Golden Key
L = Golden Lucky-Bird Huma’, Leg, Lamb, & Leaf
M = Golden Mouth, Maiden, & Mountain
N = Golden Nugget
O = Golden Oranges
P = Golden Pony
Q = Golden Qilin (Mythical Hooved Chinese Chimerical)
R = Golden Rings & Reed Pipe
S = Golden Spike, Spears, Swan, Snail, Scales, Shoe, Slipper, Sandal, Serpent, Spinning Wheel, Star Fruit Tree, & Stool
T = Golden Table, Touch, Tree, & Thumb
U = Golden Umbrella
V = Golden Vegetables & Voyages
W = Golden Water
X = Golden eXperiments
Y = Golden Yukon “Fever”
Z = Golden Zen

Year 2018

Theme: Kindness Across Cultures: Stories to Prove We Care

A = Afghanistan Affection & Altruism
B = Buddhist Benevolence & Big-Heartedness
C = Chinese Charitableness & Care
D = Damascus Devotion & Delight
E = Ethiopian Equanimity & Edification
F = Filipino Fidelity & Forgiveness
G = German Generosity & Goodness
H = Hindu Harmoniousness & Humility
I = Irish Intuition & Interconnectedness
J = Jewish Joy & Judiciousness
K = Kenyan Kindness & Keenness
L = LDS Love & Loyalty
M = M is for Mosul Mercy & Magnanimity
N = N is for Navajo Nobleness & Neighborliness
O = O is for Orkney Open-handedness & Oneness
P = P is for Peru Peacefulness & Patience
Q = Q is for Qatari Quality & Quick-Wittiness
R = R is for Russian Respectfulness & Resilience
S = S is for Swazi Sweetness & Sacrifice
T = T is for Torres Strait Thoughtfulness & Tenderness
U = U is for Ukrainian Understanding & Unselfishness
V = V is for Vietnam Valance & Valor
W = W is for Winnebago Warm-heartedness & Wholesomeness
X = X is for Xhosa Xenial & Xenodochial
Y = Y is for Yonder Yukon Yoke-fellowship & Yarn-listening
Z = Z is for Zimbabwe Zeroth & Zenith

Year 2017

Theme:  Symbols within Stories from Around the World

A = Apple
B = Bread
C = Crossroads
D = Directional Orientations (North, South, East, West)
E = Elephant
F = Fire
G = Goat
H = Horse
I = Iron
J = Jewels (Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds)Jewels (Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds)
K = Knife
L = Lightning & Thunderbolts
M = Moon
N = Numbers
O = Oil
P = Pig
Q = Queen
R = Raven
S = Sun & Stars
T = Tree of Life
U = Underworld
V = Vulture
W = Water
X = Xi-wang-mu
Y = Yellow…and Other Colors
Z = Zodiac

Year 2016

Theme:  Storytelling in all its forms in style, culture, language, and in combination of arts

A = Authentic Aura
B = Bilingual Bond
C = Celtic Culture, Guest Writer David Sharp
D = Draw n’ Tell
E = Edutainment
F = Fold n’ Cut
G = Ghosts, Goblins, & Goo, Guest Writer Julie Barnson
H = Habitat-Inspired
I = Illuminating the Illusions, Guest Writer Kim Walkowski
J = Juggling while Jibber-Jabbering
K = Kinetics & Kinesthetics
L = Lies, Lies, Lies, Guest Writer George McEwan
M = Music & Melodies
N = Native-Narrator
O = Outsider-Orator
P = Puppetry Perfection, Guest Writer Amy White
Q = Quantified Quandaries
R = Rhythm, Rhyme & Reverberation
S = Skilled Stagecrafting for Story Theatre
T = Tandem Telling
U = Unanimous Undertakings (or thereabouts)
V = Visual Visions
W = Written Word War
X = Xaern
Y = Yodeling & Yammering, Guest Writer Rene’ Sheets
Z = Zero to Zillion

Reflection:  This was harder and easier than when we did the 2015 A to Z Blog Challenge.  Our inaugural year of the Story Crossroads Festival was April 15-16, 2016 and so it was even more intense than usual.  Yet, even with that added pressure, we had wonderful guest writers who brought amazing insights.

Year 2015

Theme:  Guidance to the art of storytelling and that topic’s relation to the role of Story Crossroads

A = Art Advocacy
B = Bilingual Bridges
C = Culture Connections
D = Dreaming and Doing
E = Embracing Education
F = Fueling Finances & Filming
G = Generational Gains
H = Headlines and Headliners
I = Inviting Ingenuity & Ideas
J = Joint Journeys
K = Keen Kinetics
L = Leadership Lessons
M = Middle-Aged Memories
N = Neighbors Needing Neighbors
O = Oratories of Older Ones
P = Power of Playfulness
Q = Quantifiable Quality
R = Remembering, Recording, Re-Playing
S = School Support
T = Touring Through Tales
U = Unleashed Universality for Us
V = Volunteer Vitality
W = Worldwide Wonders
X = Xenodochium
Y = Yes to Youth
Z = Zeal, Zest, and Zing

Click here for the reflections after the 2015 A to Z Blog Challenge.