Articles

People Pride

By Gerry Bergman Area 4word 2002

 

W hat a perfect morning—talking

with Norah Dooley and her

daughter, Rosalie, age 8, over

juice and muffins at Toscaninni’s. Norah

Dooley, storyteller and children’s author,

lives on Washington Street in Area 4

with her husband Robert Fairchild, and

their four children, Sira, Julia, Ferron,

and Rosalie. Norah’s widely heralded

children’s books are about her Area 4

neighborhood. Her first book, Everybody

Cooks Rice (1991), tells the story of a girl

who wanders through her neighbors’

kitchens searching for her younger brother

at dinnertime. The neighbors, who come

from six different countries, are all cook-

ing rice. This story has its roots in the

beginnings of the yearly Washington Street

Block Party. In the late ’80s, neighbors

would gather in the Dooley-Fairchild’s

back yard, and rice and beans would be a

common food that was shared. The books

at first were written for her daughters.

When her children did not want to go to

sleep, Norah began to tell them about the

neighborhood getting together at the

block party—all races, backgrounds,

languages—and eating.

book in a series of four, continues the same

themes of shared vision and experience in a

diverse neighborhood. “Everybody has a

story to tell. I wrote about my neighbors,

especially the children on my block. Most

of the characters in my books are based on

my friends and their families. The mutual

affection and respect we have for one

another is, to me, the most important

‘recipe’ in the book.”

Norah’s latest book, Everyone Serves Soup

(2000), continues the wonderful stories of

her neighborhood. In the spring, Norah

will complete her four-book series with

“Everybody Cooks Noodles.” These books

are used in schools and libraries all over

the U.S. As a final treat for the reader, at

the end of each book are several recipes

that originated with Norah’s family,

friends, and Area 4 neighbors.

Norah is also an accomplished storyteller.

Actually she thinks of herself as a story-

teller who writes.

 

Unfortunately, her time

in the classroom has been cut short by

school administrators and teachers who

have had to teach to the MCAS tests. “The

MCAS test is absolutely stupid. Children

want to learn but we have created havoc

and incredible barriers to learning,” accord-

ing to Dooley. She looks forward to being

asked to do storytelling and writing work-

shops in Cambridge on a regular basis.

The Dooley-Fairchilds have taken a try at

organic farming in Royalston, MA, where

they cooperatively own land. Recently they

almost completed building a barn. Their

heart, however, remains in Area 4, with

long-time friends. Rosalie said Area 4,

“is not as beautiful as the country,

but here everybody says hello, people

take care of each other, it is very spe-

cial.” Norah does assess the changing

neighborhood, realizing that diversity

is at risk as rising home prices and

rents force out long-term neighbors

and friends. “Perhaps my next book

should be ‘Everybody Does Takeout’

to reflect the new lifestyle and the

new neighbors.”

 

 

Redefined, Boston's early American image

By Ellen Steinbaum, Globe Correspondent | May 28, 2006, Boston Globe - City Type

Who writes Boston's story now? Reading about yourself is like looking in a mirror....

...the indisputable evidence now says that Boston is different. The 2000 Census found more than half of Boston's population was African-American, Asian-American, or Latino. And, slowly but surely, that diversity is beginning to give us a fresh look at ourselves in print. Srikanth points to how Boston looks in the work of writers like Jhumpa Lahiri , Martin Espada , and Gish Jen . I think also of Allegra Goodman's novels and children's books by Irene Smalls and Norah Dooley. The picture is getting more colorful, the vision wider. While we treasure our history, we can see we're not on the cramped Mayflower anymore. There's room for everyone here, and you can read all about it.

 

Storyteller visits Florence Sawyer School By Ellie Vinacco/ Correspondent

Friday, November 25, 2005

On Nov. 15 author Norah Dooley addressed the third through sixth grade classes from Florence Sawyer and Emerson Schools on the subject of writing stories. Dooley's presentation, titled "From an Idea to a Published Book," consisted of a slide show and talk explaining the author's own experiences in writing and publishing, and ended with a storytelling segment and book-signing.

     Dooley captured the student's attention right away when she told them that there was no television in the house when her children were growing up. She went on to explain that she and her children read books all day to entertain themselves. However, because they read books all day, the last thing they wanted to do at bedtime was read more books! Dooley said she had no choice but to make up stories to tell them which she then wrote down after they were asleep.

      "I started writing by telling stories to my children and by telling stories I realized that I could write," she said.

     Dooley recalls the one night in particular when her daughters posed the often repeated request, "One more story, please," and she thought back to the block party they had that day for inspiration. She realized that even though the people there were from cultures all over the world, everybody brought a dish that contained rice. Dooley said this is what led her to write her first published book, "Everybody Eats Rice."

     Besides being an author, Dooley is also a visual artist who earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She worked as an artist for 10 years doing watercolors and Japanese Sumi-e, a type of ink painting. Even though Dooley is an artist, she chose not to illustrate her own books: "I didn't have that talent. It's a lot of hard work that I am not interested in and not very good at."

     To be successful in writing Dooley encouraged the students to notice things and have questions. She advised them to ask the questions of when, where, what and who and to use their imagination and memory to answer these questions with what they see, hear, smell, taste and feel. Dooley made the point that people should write because they enjoy the process, not as a means to be published: "Writing is not about getting published. It is only a small part of why I write. I write because it helps me to notice things in the world, and noticing things helps me to appreciate things, and appreciating things helps me to enjoy life more and also to understand it better."

     Dooley gave the students tips on writing stories. She told them to start by keeping a journal in which they can free write, brainstorm, draw or do whatever else works for them in order to generate ideas. She advised them to tell their story orally many times to different people and then to write five to 15 drafts and read each one out loud to themselves.

     Dooley warned the students that if they submit their work to a publisher, then they should be sure to expect rejection. As an example she relayed the story of the first "Harry Potter" book being rejected nine times before it was published, and explained that publishers receive approximately 10,000 submissions of children's books each year. She then explained the long process of publishing a book.

     Dooley ended with telling a story about storytelling. She involved the audience by teaching them sound effects to use while she told the story. She explained that she became interested in storytelling while taking a class on it at Lesley College where she earned a master's degree in Creative Arts in Learning: "I think there is a power in storytelling. There is the human interaction. It is an effective means of talking to people and putting messages in to what the listeners think is pure fun."

     After the presentation the author signed copies of her books "Everybody Cooks Rice," "Everybody Bakes Bread," "Everybody Serves Soup" and "Everybody Brings Noodles." Dooley says the series is finished but she is working on approximately 40 nonfiction projects, and she also has three compact discs available of her storytelling. After school Dooley held a workshop with students, where she helped them to create their own story. Dooley says of visiting schools like Florence Sawyer, "It's one of my favorite things to do. I am lucky to have a job that is this much fun. I love teaching. I love hearing that I've inspired students to write their own stories."

Norah Dooley on Writing and Storytelling- from an article in the Cambridge Chronicle....2001

“Storytelling is an underutilized part of our human heritage. And, it is one of the best teaching tools I know.” said Norah Dooley, storyteller, author, educator and mother of four. “You can tell things to kids in story that they’d never listen to in any other form.” Norah’s stories come from all over the world and from her own backyard. “I find story ideas everywhere.” Historical research is also an important source for Ms. Dooley. “I always loved stories of ‘olden times’ when I was a girl. The romance of history still has me in its thrall.” she said. “And I love being able to tell stories right when I am finished. In publishing, it is sometimes three years between manuscript submission to book release. Helping people uncover their personal stories and rediscover their story traditions is a labor of love.” she added.

 

In 1990 she went to Lesley College where she was able to study with some of the best storytellers in the area. Skills learned there, such as guided visualizations, story games and audience participation are important parts of Norah’s programs.

 

After 10 years of professional storytelling for children and adults, Norah credits storytelling as the creative source and discipline for her writing. “ I started telling bedtime stories to our children and then, while they slept, I wrote them down.” Norah is still visibly tickled by the serendipity that promoted her from the vast ranks of “wanna-bes” to the smaller cadre of published writers. She translates her enthusiasm and sense of wonder through stories about her books, her neighbors and her old neighborhood in Central Square Cambridge, where, as one old timer said, “We got a block like the United Nations here!”