Acclaimed Storyteller to Come to Holy Cross in Celebration of the "Day of the Dead"

WORCESTER, Mass. – Come celebrate the “Day of the Dead” with acclaimed storyteller and author Elisa Pearmain, who will share her scary tales from beyond, on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center, Jenks Suite A. The event, sponsored by the Latin American and Latino Studies Program, the Office of Multicultural Education, and the Spanish section of the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures, is free and open to the public. Stories will be narrated in English.

The “Day of the Dead,” Día de los Muertos, or All Souls Day, is an official holiday of the Catholic calendar, traditionally observed throughout México and Latin America on Nov. 1 and 2. This celebration is based on the belief that during this time, the deceased have divine permission to visit friends and relatives on earth, and to share the pleasures of the living.

“In her stories, Elisa shows the ‘Day of the Dead’ as a joyful celebration, in which family ties and love for our ancestors are strengthened — and we get a bit spooked too,” says Rocío Fuentes, visiting lecturer of Spanish and an organizer of the event. “Her work is both entertaining and inspiring, and we are glad to present it to the Holy Cross and Worcester communities.”

Pearmain, who earned her M.Ed. in creative arts in learning with a concentration in storytelling from Lesley College in 1988, is known for her “Dance Poetry,” a mix of dance and drama she adds to her storytelling. She is the award-winning author of Doorways to the Soul: Fifty-two Wisdom Tales from around the World (Pilgrim Press 1998). Pearmain, who was chosen to represent New England at the 1990 National Storytelling Festival, has been performing regularly at Boston's First Night and for audiences of all ages in schools, libraries, churches and festivals for the last 15 years. A Storyteller in Residence in the Boston Public Schools for ten years, she has fostered an appreciation for multicultural stories, and training students to be confident storytellers. Through the Lesley College Master's Program and numerous workshops, Pearmain empowers teachers and other adults to make storytelling an integral part of the classroom nationwide.