As you dig deep and write your stories and poems for the Inklings Book Contest, we are thrilled to pass on these uplifting words from one of our favorite poets authors, Ari Tison. Ari is the author of the poem, “The Storyteller Gets Her Name”, which will be coming out in POETRY Foundation’s first ever issue for young people in March 2021.
See what advice Ari gives for those of us who are made to create…
In Bribri, storyteller is siwa’ köl. Siwa’ is synonymous with story, history, and wind because the Bribri people’s stories carry through the generations of past, present, and future. Siwa’ köl expresses an even deeper meaning than storyteller—it’s a title for those telling a story, a truth, a whisper from the soul and from wholeness.
Ari loves that she gets to be a storyteller and continue the tradition. In practice, sometimes this means she’s working on her novels, a poem, or meeting with her mentor while she learns her Indigenous language and co-translate Bribri stories!
